


Karaoke, Best Attempts at Honesty, and the Kicker

by Diary



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Baking, Bechdel Test Pass, Bisexual Sam Wilson, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner Hulks Out, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Clint Barton & Laura Barton are Siblings, Condoms, Deaf Clint Barton, Families of Choice, Friendship/Love, Introspection, Karaoke, Late Night Conversations, Light Bondage, Mental Health Issues, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Minor Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Moving On, Past Bruce Banner/Betty Ross - Freeform, Pregnant Pepper Potts, Romance, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 23:58:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19038199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. In which Wanda is truthful to the extent she knows the truth, Thunderbolt Ross does get one thing right about Bruce but, as usual, still gets something rather important wrong, and the no-strings attached sex Wanda and Bruce are having eventually develops strings. Complete.





	Karaoke, Best Attempts at Honesty, and the Kicker

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes: The songs used are: Stand by Rascal Flatts, It’s Your Love by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, More Girls Like You by Kip Moore, Mine by Taylor Swift, What Might Have Been by Little Texas, Changed by Rascal Flatts, You’re Gonna Be by Reba McEntire, Who I am With You by Chris Young, and 50 Shades of Crazy by Chase Rice. The lyrics to Changed and 50 Shades of Crazy have been slightly altered due to the character singing deciding to do so.

Bruce is reading when he hears his front door being opened followed by Rhodey calling, “Yo, Bruce, it’s just us! Cell phones and landlines are down all across...”

Beside him, Wanda starts to wake, and then, Clint, Rhodey, and Natasha are coming in.

This isn’t going to be good, goes through his head.

There’s dead silence.

Fully sitting up, Wanda says, “Okay, I can explain-”

Grabbing his robe, Natasha comes over, and pulling Wanda out of bed, she puts it on her. “Later. A plane crashed in Times Square. Peter’s there, and Tony’s coming in, but they could use some more medical responders.”

Taking off his glasses, he says, “On it.”

…

Thirteen hours later, he and Clint are sitting on a curb.

Taking a deep breath, Clint sets his cup of coffee down. “You know Lila, my baby niece? Well, not only did she go on the pill when she was fifteen, but after Laura bought her several packs of condoms, I showed her how to fill them up with water to make sure there weren’t any holes.”

“Just like her, Wanda isn’t a kid, anymore. And I’ve thought for a long time it’d be good if you- But honestly, Nat’s not alone. I’m having a very hard time with the fact I walked in on you in bed with Wanda, especially with her wearing _that_.”

All he can manage to say is, “Yeah, I understand.”

The worst part (except, no, it’s not the worst, not by a long shot) is: He hadn’t been in the mood tonight, and Wanda hadn’t wanted to deal with going back to the compound. If the others hadn’t come, he’d have finished reading his book and gone to sleep, too.

Even if she’d been in her regular clothes or one of the usual nightgowns she sleeps in- on the one hand, her sleeping in his bed with him in it still wouldn’t have been something any of them simply shrugged off, but dear God, it would have been better than her in his bed wearing a teddy.

“Someone want to tell me what in the hell is going on?”

They both look up, and flying down, Tony makes a seat between them. “Natasha practically has Wanda on a leash, and one mention of you had Rhodey looking like I dared him to down three lemon juice shots again. Was there a more vigorous than usual argument? Are we looking at something like Lagos, or did Hulk come out to play earlier?”

“You know, it’s probably best you hear it from either him or Wanda,” Clint says. “So,” he taps his ears, “aides off, and I’m going to go stand over there.”

He walks over to a nearby street lamp, and turning fully away from them, he leans against it.

Giving him a soft, puzzled look, Tony quietly asks, “What’s going on, Bruce?”

…

In Wanda’s room, she and Natasha sit on her bed.

“You shouldn’t- you don’t- I know you’re angry at Dr Banner and possibly me, but he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“I’m not angry.”

“It’s been about five months,” Wanda says. “We’re not in a relationship.”

“How did it happen?”

“It’s, um, complicated.”

Natasha raises an eyebrow. “In his case, he’s a fifty-”

“And I’m almost thirty. I’m not fifteen, anymore. I’m not seventeen. I haven’t hurt him, and he hasn’t hurt me.”

“I do know you’re a responsible, fully grown adult. It’s just-” She closes her eyes.

“For years, Bruce hated me,” Wanda supplies. “With a passion. I haven’t forgotten. It’s not something I probably could ever forget. I’m not in love with him, and he’s not- It’s fun for us.”

Natasha studies her. “Are you sure? The honest truth is, even knowing you’re an adult, I’m worried about you.” Something resembling a smile but not crosses her face. “Dr Banner has a dark side beyond the Hulk. He wants everyone to buy into him being a mild-mannered, reserved man who just happens to be saddled with the Hulk, and he’s good at selling it.”

“I know that better than anyone,” Wanda says. “We can’t hurt one another. If either of us tries, everyone will soon know.”

“That’s true. But do you really think that’s a good reason to sleep with someone?”

“By itself, no. Before, as much as I wanted to destroy the Avengers, I still thought he was handsome. In different circumstances, I probably would have had a crush on him. Now, he makes me feel good. The others I’ve been with, none of them were as good.”

Sighing, Natasha squeezes her hand. “Okay. If this is what you want, as long as no one gets hurt, I won’t object.”

“Thank you.” She squeezes back.

“You’re still on birth control? And if you two aren’t exclusive-”

“Yes, and we always use condoms. I always check them like you and Clint taught me.”

“Good.”

…

After Tony lets him go, he comes across Wanda reading in the lobby, and he briefly wonders if she’s been waiting for him.

Looking up, she sets her book aside. “Natasha isn’t happy, but she’s taking it well.”

He almost makes a joke about Tony finally ruling out him being brainwashed, but even if this isn’t a sore subject for her, saying it out loud-

“Tony’s more worried and confused than unhappy, but he’s taking it pretty well, too.”

She looks at the gauze wrapped around his left median cubital vein. “So well that he’s performed medical tests to make sure you’re fully you?”

“Compared to how else he could have reacted,” he points out.

Shrugging, she grabs his hand. “That’s true.”

When she leads him into the conference room, the windows turn opaque, and pulling him along, she gives him a mischievous smile as she walks backwards. “Now that they all know-”

“They don’t all know.”

Lifting herself onto the table, her look takes on a tinge of exasperation. “You were too paranoid one of them would find out if we were together in my room, but the fact you gave keys to your apartment to some of them and that probably every Avenger could simply get in without one-” She pointedly lets the sentence hang.

“This isn’t your room.”

Looking up at him, one of her hands flexes in his curls before moving down to his neck. “It has a lock. One that would be harder to override than the apartment they have keys to.”

What the hell, he decides.

“Okay, but I have a lunch date tomorrow, so, I need to go home to get some sleep soon.”

Digging several scarves out of her jacket, she shrugs it off with a nod. “I’m not even going to bother getting my calculus exam rescheduled this time.”

“Professor Musgraves still being an asshole about accepting legitimate Avenger response emergencies?”

There’s a small slump to her shoulders. “If it were just me, it’d be one thing, but he does this to _everyone_. I’m getting my B, and then, I’m filing a formal complaint with the dean.”

“Good,” he says.

Spreading her legs, she undoes his belt before leaning so that he can press her wrists against the table legs.

Starting to tie them, he says, “Jarvis, lock this room and deny access to the others unless it’s an emergency.”

…

Adjusting her jacket, she says, “I’ll walk you out.”

He finishes buckling his belt. “Thanks. Jarvis, unlock door.”

“Done, doctor.”

Opening the door, he asks, “What about your Developmental Psychology exam?”

“That was rescheduled for next Tuesday. The surrogate for Dr Black’s son and his husband had the baby, and she’s staying in Montana with them for the rest of the month. The substitute she chose should be here on Monday. I’ll text you after my exam. Maybe we could have dinner here with the others? It might help lessen the awkwardness quicker.”

“We’ll see.”

She’s probably right, but at the same time-

“Hey, Bruce, Wanda,” Steve’s voice breaks into his thoughts. “I’m sorry we didn’t get there earlier. We had to drop Tamila back off at her mom’s. You two okay?”

He looks over, and before he can answer, he sees Steve has stopped mid-step.

Following Steve’s eyes, he realises he and Wanda are holding hands.

Managing not to sigh, he tells himself this definitely could be worse. For all this is confusing due to everything Steve knows about them, at least, Steve wasn’t there last night.

“Steve, it’s good to see you, but go find Natasha,” Wanda says. “Things have changed, and we’ll talk about it soon.” Then, she tugs his hand. “Come on.”

…

On the lounge room couch, Natasha says, “Clint and I don’t like it, either.”

Sighing, Steve sits down beside her. “Are you two more worried about her or him?”

“Her. You?”

“The same.” He shakes his head. “And after what she did, I feel like it should be the opposite.”

“We have protocols for dealing with both Hulk and her misusing her powers again. We’ve had training. But if he hurts her emotionally-” She leaves the sentence hanging.

“Yeah. What, uh, what do you think are the chances of that happening?”

“I don’t know. Any assessment I made would be formed on a lack of information. She insists it’s just sex, and in what’s probably irony,” she leans back, “usually, I’d believe she could have a sexual relationship without romantic feelings, but I’d be sceptical about Banner’s ability.”

After a moment, he says, “She hurt him, Nat. Even if he’s forgiven her, once someone hurts Bruce, he’s good at making sure they never will again. But when it comes to her, for all she feels guilty about what she did and even with the sadness and pain his attitude towards her has caused over the years, I don’t think he’s ever hurt her the way-“

“A young woman with deep feelings towards a man can be hurt,” she supplies.

He nods.

“Any ideas on how to begin preparing for if he does? Clint and I haven’t figured it out yet.”

…

The night after her exam, Wanda comes over to Bruce’s apartment, and handing him her jacket, she says, “I did better than expected. An A. If I can get a B+ on my next exam, I’ll have an A- for my semester average.”

“Congratulations.”

“And Steve wants me to talk to Sam. About-” She gestures between them.

“Your call.”

He knows he’s not going to be able to avoid it when Tony decides they’re going to talk, but the others, he can and will refuse to discuss the subject with them.

She might not have this luxury, he knows. The others have always been protective of her, and she has genuine friendships with them.

Slipping her dress off, she says, “I feel like a shower tonight.”

He follows her to the bathroom.

…

Trying to ignore the way Wanda’s nuzzling his chest, he finishes wrapping the medicated gauze over the bruise on her right wrist. “Never mind the fact we agreed you’d say something if it got too tight, you should have taken them off as soon as you felt-”

“I didn’t feel it. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I tend to have a very narrow focus when your head is between my thighs.”

He’s not sure how much he buys this. Admittedly, he’s never had cuffs on during sex, but even as talented as she is with her own mouth, he can’t imagine he wouldn’t notice metal biting into his skin during the act.

“Well, when I have to deal with the others-”

“They all know the difference between bruising from handcuffs and human hands, and they know I train to get out of handcuffs without my powers. They’ll just assume it was the case this time, and I won’t correct them.”

Partially relieved, he lays down. “All the same, we’re not using them or anything else until your wrist is fully healed, and we’re definitely revisiting the idea of using bondage cuffs instead.”

“Fine,” she sighs. Leaning over, she moves so that she’s sitting on him, and playing with his glasses, she says, “I’d still like to tonight.”

He nods. “Okay.”

Smiling, she reaches for the condoms.

…

Despite his efforts, he ends up going over to the compound to have dinner with Wanda, Tony, Steve and Sam, and Clint and Natasha.

Wanda takes the wine he brought. “Tony did a pot roast, and I cooked salmon and made zafir.

“Sounds good.”

“Hey, big guy.” Coming out with Clint and Natasha, Tony hugs him. “You see Dr Talbot’s little vampire?”

“Yeah, and now, Betty wants to kill me.”

Being a sympathetic friend, Tony laughs. “What did you do?”

“Is there any way to stop teenagehood from existing? Things were great when Bree was little, and I’m sure she’ll be a good woman, but the answer is: I don’t know. She and Betty disagree about her going to some concert, and I’m now in the middle of this argument. How I got there-” He groans.

Chuckling, Natasha leads Wanda to the table, “Is she going or not?”

“I don’t know that, either. I’ve decided it’s best to let Betty contact me when she’s ready. Less likely for her to show up with a formula capable of killing me and the other guy both that way.”

Going over to help them, Clint shares a kiss with Natasha before asking, “What’s her husband think?”

“Yeah, what does-”

“Tony, Glenn won that bet fair and square. Think it might be time to start getting over it?” Laughing at Tony’s face, he continues, “Apparently, they’re disagreeing with each other, too. Must be the bliss that comes from living and dealing with a teenager.”

“Hey, we brought my nana’s famous strawberry shortcake bread.” Sam shakes his hand as Steve carries some covered dishes to the table. “You talking about my niece or Dr Talbot’s daughter?”

“Bree. Does Tamila like that DVD I gave her?”

Smiling, Sam nods. “She loves it. Invaded our bed at three in the morning, because, the DVR in the living room is acting up. Thanks for that.”

“Looks like everything’s ready,” Clint says.

They all sit down, and he ends up between Tony and Wanda.

“How’d your flying test go, Wanda,” Natasha asks.

“Good. I made a 96. Lost four points for getting momentarily distracted by a bird.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Sam offers, and Steve nods.

“Funny, it’s never happened to me,” Tony says. “But all the same, great job for your first SHIELD flying test.”

“Yes.” Natasha raises her glass, and they all follow suit.

Flushing, Wanda shyly raises hers. “Thank you.”

“When’s your next test,” Natasha asks.

“It’s scheduled for next month, but I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t happen on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.”

“Do you know what you’re giving up for Lent,” Steve asks.

“I haven’t decided, yet.”

“Well, if you need us to talk to your instructors, we will,” Natasha says.

“Thank you, but so far, I’m doing okay navigating things like that myself.”

Tony nudges him. “Hey, if you don’t have any plans after dinner, I could use your help with these new terrigen crystals I had delivered-”

He tries not to groan. “Okay, show of hands, who here knew that Tony got his hands on anything terrigen?”

“None of us,” Wanda answers, and there are nods around the table.

“Alright, good. Because, to reiterate, things like that are the sort of things that I need to be contacted about as soon as possible. Tony, what have we talked about when it comes to-”

“They’ve stayed sealed. I was hoping to tempt you over soon.”

“No, I don’t have any plans tonight.”

It hits him Wanda might have wanted to have sex after dinner, but right now, working with Tony on terrigen crystals might literally yield groundbreaking results when it comes to helping sick Inhumans and helping those who’ve been hurt by Inhumans.

…

The terrigen crystals are fascinating.

“I was thinking about building a new house. A cabin, actually,” Tony announces.

Glancing up from his microscope, he asks, “Does this have anything to do with the crystals?”

“No.”

“Good for you, Tony. Is it going to be for you or for-”

“Pepper’s pregnant.”

Shocked, he almost drops his glasses. Turning around, he sees Tony is definitely serious. He didn’t really think Tony would joke about such a thing, but there was a possibility.

“I take it congratulations are in order?”

Breathing out a sigh, Tony nods. “Yeah. We haven’t done the first ultrasound, yet, or any of that, but she thinks it’s gonna be a girl.”

Getting up, he hugs Tony. “That’d be good.”

Tony tightens the hug. “Yeah, it would be.”

When they break apart, Tony continues, “It’d be easier to name a boy, though.”

Rolling his eyes, he smacks Tony’s forehead, and laughing, Tony sits down.

“She doesn’t want to make any announcements until we’re at three months. But hopefully- we’ve been revisiting the subject of marriage a lot lately.”

He sits, too. “Where’s the cabin going to be?”

“You know what, we’ll revisit that. What I really want to talk about is: If we do get married this time, you’re still on for being a groomsman, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I’d be honoured.”

“We’re really having trouble with thinking of a name for a girl. ‘Maria’ might be okay for a middle name, but as much as I love my mom, I don’t want any potential daughter I have to have such an old-fashioned first name. Uh, a boy, his first name would definitely be James.”

“It’s a good name.”

Standing, Tony starts fiddling with the holographic data. “I’d want him to be named after you, too, Bruce. No offence, but ‘James Bruce’ is up there with ‘Maria’ in old-fashion-ness. I know you hated your dad-”

He thinks of Tony Stark’s son having ‘Robert’ in his name, and- no.

“My mother’s grandfather’s name was David, and from what I know, he was a good man,” he offers. “Of course, I’m not sure how-”

“David James sounds like a good name.”

“I can think of something else to go after James.”

“No, that’s good. Thinking about it, Rhodey isn’t going to care if it’s a first or middle name.”

“Well, all the same, you should probably see what Pepper thinks before making any definite-”

“She told me I was responsible for naming any boys we had. Uh, she gave me clear guidelines on what I’m not even allowed to consider, but it’s practically always been her and her mom. She doesn’t have any close male relatives, and so, she thinks I’d probably do better at thinking of a good name than she would. And considering she thought about naming any boys after Happy-”

“You mean the godfather of your future child?”

“Godfather or not, ‘Harold’ would be child abuse, and I’m not going to give everyone a golden pass to compare my possibly redheaded son to Prince Harry.”

“Fair point on both,” he acknowledges.

Sighing, Tony sits down, and looking over, his expression is uncharacteristically vulnerable. “This kid is going to be the most important person in the world, Bruce. I- Being an Avenger, I can’t promise I’ll never have to make the call of risking myself again, but I’m going to try my hardest to always put her or him and Pepper above everyone else and everything.”

“I want to be better than my old man was. I want my kid to have the family that me and Pepper never really had. And if that means you’re not around, then- it means that. But I’m asking you, big guy, to be a part of this baby’s life. Don’t disappear. Don’t spend most or all of their childhood in some third world country, only reappearing if there’s some world-threatening emergency.”

He squeezes Tony’s hand. “I promise.”

Smiling, Tony looks as if a huge weight has been lifted. “Good. Hey, let’s get back to those crystals.”

…

Soon after Tony tells him about the baby, Tony and Pepper start telling the others, and one weekend, Wanda comes over to his apartment with her sewing kit in tow. “How big are babies usually? I don’t have any of my baby clothes or Pietro’s. Of course, he was freakishly large for a baby, and my parents weren’t allowed to take me home for several days, because, I was so small. I only weighed three pounds.”

Firing up his 3D printer, he makes and labels several baby models for her.

“Do you think the baby will have red or brown hair?”

He sets a glass of cucumber water down next to her. “The most likely possibility is brown, but there’s actually a bigger chance she or he will be blonde instead of a redhead.”

Her expression is sceptical when she glances up.

“Mrs Potts is blonde, and Pepper’s dad was a brunet. Her maternal great-grandmother is the closest redhead she has in her family tree.”

“Genetics,” she mutters with a frown, and his laughter only deepens it.

“I’m still making some red and blue outfits. I know Tony and Miss Potts won’t mind if their daughter wears blue, but you Americans insisting on putting girls in pink and making a fuss if boys are, I’m never going to understand that. Pink is such a strong, masculine colour, and blue is the colour Mary of Nazareth most frequently wore. I’m not sure if they’ll do a christening, but I’m going to make some veils all the same.”

“For the baby or Pepper?”

“The baby. But if Miss Potts would like one, I’d be happy to make it for her, too.”

He reads as she sews.

“Do you think you might ever have children? I’m sorry you couldn’t with Dr Ross, but would you consider having them with someone else?”

“No. I’m too old.”

“No, you’re not. Men can-”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s probably a good thing Betty and I never had kids. I’m- even with the good place I’m in right now, I’m still a mess. The other guy’s always going to be an issue, a possible threat. Besides, by the time any kid of mine graduated high school, I’d be close to eighty. There would be younger grandparents in attendance.”

She makes a small sound. “I hope I have a baby someday. Unless I have twins, I probably wouldn’t have more than one."

A memory of her coming into his office asking for his help in starting birth control hits him, and remembering what she’d said-

“Uh, hey, Wanda.”

She looks up.

“Despite me agreeing with what you said years ago, the truth is, now, I think you’d be a great mom.”

Her eyes are suddenly happy and vulnerable in a way that reminds him of Tony and Betty.

“Thank you,” she softly says.

…

Coming into the Avenger’s gym, Sam watches Wanda destroying targets with her powers until she spots him.

When she sits down next to him, he gives her a small smile. “Not that Steve and I don’t appreciate all the free food you’ve been unloading on us, but do you want to talk about anything?”

“Lent’s coming soon. And I know what the best thing to give up would be, but-” She trails off.

“Have you talked to your priest?”

“I don’t talk to priests much anymore. I know many of them hold that premarital sex and same-sex relationships and abortion are sins.” She kicks her feet back-and-forth. “I know using mind control and helping Ultron was wrong, but at the time, I believed I was doing the right thing. I’ve always tried my best not to do things I believe are wrong.”

“Is this about you and Bruce?”

“Giving up sex would be the best thing, but it’s not like giving up a food or certain other activities.”

“Do you think Bruce might have a problem with you doing this?”

She gives him an incredulous look. “This is Bruce Banner we’re talking about. He’d never make someone feel bad about not having sex or pressure them into it. And I know he disagrees with a lot of things concerning Christianity, but as long as people don’t try to push their beliefs on him, he’s respectful of them having those beliefs.”

Smiling slightly, he nods. “Had to ask.”

“What would you do if Steve gave up sex for Lent?”

He shrugs. “Without getting graphic, I have two perfectly working hands, and generally, people who aren’t having sex with others only need one. I’m pretty sure I’d be okay. Does this mean you and Bruce are exclusive, now?”

“No. I wouldn’t care if he was with someone.”

Scepticism crosses his face, but he stays quiet.

“But what if he finds someone he does want to be in a real, monogamous relationship with? A lot can happen in forty days.”

“A lot can happen on any day,” he quietly says. “No relationship ever has any guarantees. A person who’s been faithfully married for twenty years could fall in love with someone else. If you’re in a non-exclusive relationship, there’s always going to be the possibility the other person might find someone they want to be exclusive with. And a lot of times, a healthy amount of sex is part of what keeps a relationship strong and healthy, but the truth is, if a person’s going to find themselves wanting something different with someone else, no amount of sex will stop that.”

She sighs. “Thanks, Sam.”

…

On Tuesday, Wanda comes to Bruce’s apartment. “I need to talk to you about Lent.”

“If this is about you fasting, I’m still taking the others side on-”

“I’m only giving up red meat and coffee. No, it’s not about that.”

He motions for her to sit down, and when she does, he follows suit.

“I’m giving up all forms of sex for Lent.”

“Okay. Just don’t- I’d strongly advise you not to go off your birth control for-”

“I know.” She shifts slightly. “Are you going to be okay with this?”

“Why would I care?”

Even before she turns fully to look at him, he realises, given the fact he’s been having regular sex with her-

“That could have- Look, Wanda, it’s been nice what we’ve been doing, but if you ever want to stop, for any reason, that’s fine.”

Her look of exasperation doesn’t decrease. “I don’t want to stop. Part of Lent is giving up something important. Meaningful. Special. Or at least, that’s what it’s supposed to be about. I just- can we start again after Lent?”

“If you want, sure.”

“What if you find someone you want to be with during it? Exclusively?”

“I don’t believe in monogamy,” he reminds her. “And I highly doubt that’ll happen anyways. Aside from the other Avengers, most of whom are in relationships, the only people I interact with on a regular basis are interns, and I would never knowingly be with one of them.”

She laughs. “I think it’s cute how much-”

“There’s nothing cute about having a nineteen-year-old human puppy almost blowing up the building because of you.”

“Says the person who teased Tony mercilessly when Peter came into our lives.”

“There’s a difference.”

“No, there’s not.” She stands up. “Could we have sex tonight?”

“Wouldn’t that be cutting it a little close?”

“As long as I leave before midnight, no.”

“Sure,” he answers.

…

A few days after Lent ends, he’s playing cards with Steve in the compound.

Sam comes in, and after sharing a kiss with Steve, he says, “Hey, I just got word Ross is going to be coming in soon.”

“Which Ross?” If it’s Agent Ross, he’s not leaving. He doesn’t think the agent likes him, but so far, Agent Ross has been civil and, as far as he knows, hasn’t tried to get him locked up and experimented on.

Sam’s face tells him the answer before Sam speaks, “Thunderbolt.”

He’s not really surprised. There’s an awards ceremony for the Avengers coming up soon, and Ross usually pops up when things like this are about to happen.

“Nice playing with you, Steve.”

Nodding, Steve shakes his hand. “Rematch soon?”

“You got it.”

…

He gets to the lobby just as Ross is walking in.

I hate my life goes, through his head.

“Banner.”

Deciding not to even bother responding, he keeps heading for the door, and he’s almost there when he hears, “Dr Banner!”

Turning, he sees Wanda coming over. “I-” Pausing, she takes in Ross. “Oh. You’re here.”

Then, turning fully to him, she says, “I need your opinion. Jarvis, show him my dress options, please.”

Two holographic Wandas appear in different dresses. “I’m going to curl my hair for the awards ceremony. Which dress do you think is better?”

“They’re both beautiful,” he offers.

“But which do you think looks better on me?”

Feeling helpless and wondering why Clint and Natasha couldn’t have come back from their mission a little earlier, he studies them. The black one is classy and elegant, perfect for an awards ceremony, but the red one tastefully empathises her figure and goes wonderfully with her hair and eyes.

“You’d really stand out in the red one. It looks gorgeous on you.”

She smiles brightly. “Thank you.”

After she leaves, he starts to head back out, and he’s taken aback by the way Ross is studying him.

Don’t engage, he tells himself.

…

The next day, he makes a mistake.

Tony wasn’t there yesterday, and since Tony was who Ross came to see, Ross has come back today.

And unfortunately, so has he.

“Just kill me, now,” he mutters.

Steve, Wanda, and Natasha stop training, and the latter two share a look.

“Go with Wanda, Dr Banner. She’ll sneak you out, and Steve and I’ll keep Ross busy until Tony gets back.”

…

He feels pathetic.

“It wouldn’t be good if I pointed out that, technically, I could brainwash him into walking off a cliff, right?”

Unable to help it, he laughs. “Where would we find a cliff in New York?”

“True.” She touches his hand. “He may not be Hydra, but he’s just as bad as Strucker.”

Maybe he should argue, but whether the comparison is fair or not, he doesn’t feel any obligation to defend Ross. “You, uh, you really don’t need to help me sneak out.”

Stopping, she looks at him for a moment, but before he can ask, she’s pulling him into a room full of all sorts of clutter.

“What is this room?”

“It was supposed to be a room for Tony’s robots, but now, we use it as sort of a junk room. I was thinking,” her hands skim down to his waist, “we could both use a distraction.”

“There’s no bed or anything really stable to lay on.” And God, does this make him feel like an old man, but the thought of getting down on the floor-

Undoing his belt, her eyes are practically sparkling when she says, “There’s a wall if you want to lean against it.” Then, she sinks to her knees.

“We’re- There’s not a shower, either.”

She shrugs. “I don’t care. Do you?”

…

After talking with Tony, Ross stands in the lobby.

“Jarvis, is Bruce Banner in here?”

“Yes, Mr Secretary.”

“Where exactly is he?”

The computer’s directions lead him to a room, but when he tries to open the door, he finds it locked.

“You are not authorised to enter.”

“What’s Banner doing in there?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Tony’s voice appears, “Hey, we’ve concluded our business. This compound is for Avengers, interns, and visitors who neither of those have issues with.”

Looking over, he turns to where Tony and Steve are walking over together.

“I’m not leaving until I talk to Banner.”

“He decided he’d leave when he heard you had arrived. We don’t know where he is, Mr Secretary,” Steve mildly says.

“He’s in here.” Ross gestures to the room. “But the door’s locked.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony says, “Okay, this has gone on long enough. I’ll let you see him, and then, you’re-”

“Apologies for interrupting, sir, but Miss Maximoff is in the room with Dr Banner.”

Steve’s stance changes. “It’s time for you to leave, Mr Secretary.”

…

Bruce zips his pants back up.

“For the ceremony, do you think my mother’s cross or the necklace Clint gave me for last Christmas would go better with the dress?”

“Don’t wear the necklace Clint gave you,” he automatically says.

Clint likes to give people gaudy, loud, and otherwise embarrassingly inappropriate clothes, shoes, and pieces of jewellery, and Wanda knows this, she can usually recognise how awful said gifts are, but also, she genuinely loves the horribly tacky necklace Clint gave her. There have been times when he knows Natasha has been tempted to remove it before they went out in public, and for all he knows, there are times she actually has stopped Wanda from wearing it to an important event.

Scoffing, she nods. “Do you think one of my other necklaces might be better?”

“As long as it’s not that one, any of them would look good with your dress.”

They walk out.

He wants to thank her for- not necessarily for the blowjob, he wouldn’t be involved in this if he thought she’d do sexual things when she wasn’t in the mood, but for dealing with his inability to not shake off Ross’s presence the way the others do. Ross hurt all of them, including her, but no one else makes it one of their life missions to avoid being even in the same state as Ross.

She and the others could have easily let him sneak out on his own, but instead-

What comes out is, “Hey, if you feel like coming over tonight, I’d be happy to return the favour.”

“Banner!”

They turn, and he sees an exasperated Tony, Steve, and Natasha chasing an approaching Ross.

Before Ross can reach them, Wanda moves in front of him with her hands poised, and with clear weariness on his face, Ross stops.

“You’re a hard man to reach.”

“Almost ten years didn’t clue you into that?”

He can see the amusement in the others’ faces and Wanda’s body language, and he takes this as a good sign that the bitterness he feels didn’t seep too deeply into his voice.

“I need to talk to you about my daughter and granddaughter.”

Wanda takes a step forward, and he takes pleasure in the way Ross takes a step back.

“That’s not going to happen,” he says. “If Betty still isn’t letting you see Bree, that’s between you, her, and Glenn.”

In all actuality, it’s probably more between them and Bree herself. For all Glenn and Betty are having problems, he’s never known Glenn to not be supportive of Betty’s distance from Ross. Bree hasn’t liked her grandfather since early childhood (smart kid), though, her reasons are less about Ross being a cruel, lying hardass and more she’s dainty and fashion-conscious. She had no interest in being around a man who smelled of cigar smoke, talked about war stories, and didn’t show the appropriate awe over her outfits, hair, and the fact she was able to paint her nails all by herself.

As much as he’ll always love Betty, he has to wonder how she might have turned out if either her mother had lived or she’d had a better father.

“It’s not about that.” And suddenly, Ross looks almost unbearably tired.

There’s a part of him freaked out by this. He’s seen Ross physically tired, but this- is closer to exhausted defeat, and the Ross he knows has never come close to approaching that.

Touching Wanda’s shoulder, he nods to Tony. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”

Wanda moves aside, but he can see she’s still staring intently at Ross.

Ross looks between them. “Your fly’s undone.”

Looking down, he sees Ross is right.

He could have sworn he’d re-zipped before leaving the room.

Trying not to sigh, he redoes it. Ross had been near the room when they left, and thinking on it, Tony and Steve might have been more intent than normal at keeping him away. He hadn’t bothered locking the junk room, but he imagines, if Ross had tried to get in, Jarvis would have stopped him.

Any hope he’s just imagining the worst case scenario vanishes when he sees Steve’s face.

…

They stand in the opaque conference room.

“You and the witch? You’re together?”

Wishing they weren’t in the opaque conference room, he responds, “You asked to talk about Betty and your granddaughter.”

“She’s going to divorce Talbot.”

If this is true, if things have gotten so bad, he knows it’s better for kids to have separated but hopefully amicable parents and two different houses than parents staying together and infecting daily toxicity into the house, but all the same, he feels a pang of worry and sadness for Bree.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but what does this have to do with me?” As he asks, he realises what the answer might be, and he adds, “Trying to blame me for this won’t go well. I meet Bree whenever she has a school trip to New York, and Betty and I occasionally email one another about the latest scientific news. Otherwise, I haven’t been a true part of Betty’s life in years.”

“I know,” Ross grumbles. “I don’t particularly like Talbot, either, but at least, he isn’t you.”

He supposes a normal person might have some reaction other than vague numbness to this.

Quieter, Ross continues, “I’ve never been there the way Betty needed me to be. I don’t have a close relationship with my granddaughter. But I have gone from married to not. If she ends up back with you, fine, but I’m asking you not to actively discourage her from letting me help.”

And you think you actually can, crosses his mind.

“Look, General- Mr Secretary, Betty and I aren’t going to get back together. I will always love her, and I will always try to be there for her and her daughter. But we’re very different people with very different lives and priorities now than we were before the other guy came into play. If you want to be there for her and Bree, it won’t be my doing if you fail.”

Ross scoffs. “You think I can’t.”

“Honestly, if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t take those odds. You threw away all of her toys when she wouldn’t clean her room. You yelled enough to make her cry several times when she was growing up. You were never at any of her science fairs. When she got a full ride to an Ivy League, you made a show about being glad you wouldn’t have to pay for “such hogwash”. You lied to her fiancé, chased him literally all across the globe.”

“And,” he wonders if he’s about to get punched, “you made it where she had to sell her mother’s necklace, the only thing you kept, aside from some pictures, of her mother that she had. Whether you want it or not, you do have my sympathy for what happened to your wife, but you had a baby who needed a father, and legally, you fulfilled that role.”

“But I was the one who got her mother’s necklace back for her. I was the one who supported her career. I was the one she cried to and talked about her mother with. And your granddaughter is a beautiful, intelligent young woman who feels passionately about vegan makeup, wears a different shade of nail polish on every nail, and loves her drama class.”

“I believe you fought for and would have died to protect such women, but you have never valued people like your own daughter and hers. So, hey, if over forty years too late, you can finally be someone who does and be the man and father and grandfather Betty and Bree always deserved, good for you. I would never take that away from them.”

He expects anger, but instead, Ross looks even more defeated than before.

It’s not a good look on him, he realises. For years, he’d hoped to see such a look, and now-

Sighing, Ross visibly pulls himself back together. “Banner. Glad we understand one another.”

“Mr Secretary.”

…

Back in the lobby, Ross touches his chest before digging a bottle of pills out of his pocket.

“There’s food and non-alcoholic beverages you’re welcome to in the kitchen, Mr Secretary,” Jarvis announces.

Ross goes to the kitchen, and looking up from the brownies she’s making, Wanda scoffs. “You again? Dr Banner-”

“I need to take something with my pills.” He holds the bottle up.

Waving her free hand, the pantry opens, and a glass is filled with water before floating over to him.

“Thanks.”

She cracks some eggs.

Digging through the pantry, he finds a box of gluten-free crackers. “Are these vegan?”

Giving him a look, she answers, “Yes. I might be wrong, but from what I understand, crackers by definition are vegan. There’s plenty of-”

“This is good. Might as well get used to it since my daughter thinks there’s nothing wrong with my granddaughter subsisting on rabbit food.”

Her look turns confused. “Your granddaughter isn’t a vegan. Just last week Dr Banner had chilli dogs with her.”

“He told me she was passionate about vegan makeup.”

She nods. “They had a talk about animal testing. He explained how it was sometimes necessary for helping cure human sicknesses and that it wasn’t always painful or life-shortening to the animals. Then, they both agreed animals shouldn’t be used to create makeup or tested with it.”

He grabs a packet of ham-and-cheese crackers, and taking them over to the counter, he sits down with a sigh before eating one and downing his pills with a drink of water.

“It’s funny, you being one of his big protectors now.”

“I’m culpable for Johannesburg and Ultron. But I was still a normal little girl living with my parents and brother when you made him into a fugitive and took away a life with your daughter, a chance to share children with her, from him.”

Watching her stirring the mix, his eyes land on her nails. Her pointer fingers are painted red, and the rest are black.

Seeing this, she stops stirring to hold her hands up with the nails facing him. “It’s called skittle-pop. Many soap opera actresses wear it. Dr Banner doesn’t particularly care for it, either.”

“It’s the name,” he says.

Resuming stirring, she glances at him.

“I doubt Banner cares about the style one way or another, but the name would be more appropriate if each nail was a different colour.”

She considers this.

“I used to genuinely think he might be a sociopath.” He scoffs. “I know better now, but I’m still glad he didn’t marry my daughter. Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Glad he didn’t?”

Her look is icy. “Of course not. I made mistakes, but I’m not like you. As best I can, I’ve left my cruelty behind. He could have been happy. Whether you believe or acknowledge it, so could your daughter. Johannesburg likely never would have happened.”

He puts the glass in the dishwasher. “You look similar to Betty. Black hair, pale eyes. He loved seeing her in red.”

Aside from a slight tension in her shoulders, she doesn’t react.

“If there comes a day when you need to risk yourself, your life, he won’t stop you. He might give a token protest, but otherwise, he’ll let you.”

“Good. I’d rather risk myself than have any of the others risk themselves. If I die, I’ll die doing the best I could to make the world a little better.”

“I believe that,” he says. “What I don’t believe and really wish I could is that you were the same destructive threat you used to be. He wouldn’t mourn you. He might regret the loss of such a powerful member, and maybe, he really would feel bad for the others losing you.”

“But you’re two of the strongest Avengers consistently on Earth, and if it comes down to a choice between him or you, he’ll let you take one for the team, and he won’t mourn the woman he was sleeping with. The only one of you it might truly hurt for him to lose is Stark, and the kicker is, this’d still be the case even if there was no Ultron, Johannesburg, or Lagos.”

Testing the mix, she begins pouring it on the baking pan. “Yes. I suppose that is the kicker.”

He leaves.

…

When Wanda comes to Bruce’s apartment, she says, “I’ve decided to wear the black dress.”

A little surprised, he responds, “That’ll go good with your mother’s cross.”

He considers asking why she’s decided this, but he doesn’t want to give the impression he cares what she wears.

As long as it’s not the necklace Clint gave her, and he could easily defend himself against any accusations of being controlling by the mere fact every Avenger, Clint _possibly_ excepting, would object to her wearing it to an awards ceremony.

She slumps slightly, and he sees her eyes are tired and maybe a little sad.

“After you left, my day took a turn. Just one of those days. Could I just sleep here tonight?”

“Yeah, sure.” Pressing his wrist against her forehead, he asks, “Have you had dinner yet?”

Frowning, she bats his hand away. “I’m not sick. And yes, I had dinner with Sam and his niece. He brought her over while Steve makes sure the TV person properly fixed their DVRs this time.”

Chuckling at the thought, he asks, “Tamila doing good?”

A smile crosses her face. “She’s as sweet as ever.”

…

Finishing reading the latest article by Dr Foster, he sees Wanda is sound asleep.

Taking off his glasses and plugging his tablet into the charger, he adjusts the sheets over her before turning off the lights.

…

Opening her eyes, Wanda quietly gets out of bed, and going to the living room, she looks down at the snoring Bruce on the couch.

Sighing, she goes back to his room.

…

The afternoon before the award ceremony, there’s a knock on Wanda’s door, and outside of it, Natasha says, “Hey, it’s me.”

“Come in!”

Closing the door behind her, Natasha comments, “You look very pretty. But I thought you were wearing that red dress we bought.”

Wanda’s face falls, and beginning to put on her rings, she answers, “Other women might be wearing red. No one will think I’m trying to copy the ones who wear black.”

“Other women, meaning Dr Talbot?”

Looking up, Wanda frowns at her.

Coming over, Natasha asks, “This is about Dr Banner?”

“No, this is about me.”

Natasha sits down on the bed. “I don’t know if you saw this when you were in my mind, but Clint was nice to a dog. They sent him to kill me, and for all he’s an excellent soldier, he could never be a spy. I was ten steps ahead of him. He was in a park, and a stray dog came over and knocked over his soda.”

“At best, I expected him to ignore the dog. I braced myself for the worst. Instead, well,” a soft smile crosses her face, and Wanda sits down next to her, “he was Clint. Hours later and money he didn’t have that SHIELD was going to penalise him for making them pay, the dog was in a no-kill shelter with more toys than most dogs with homes have.”

“I didn’t see that,” Wanda says. “But I know you were both tired.”

“When we finally got together, even though he was managing his PTSD, things weren’t good,” Natasha quietly says. “I’d never been in a real relationship, and most of his ended on bad terms. I tried to be what I thought he most wanted. We almost didn’t make it.”

“I’m glad you did, but that’s in no way the same as this.”

“I know what it’s like to want someone in a certain way so badly and to have to make a choice between settling for being in their life in a certain capacity or walking. I wanted him for over a decade, and during that time, I was his best friend and his partner. Despite the hurt, I told myself I was lucky, and I was.”

“But,” Natasha takes her hand, “if the hurt had ever outweighed that, I would have made myself walk.”

“I don’t want more or something different with him. You knew that he liked the colour red on women, didn’t you? That’s why you wore that dress in India.”

“Yes. We studied pictures of Betty Ross before, during, and after her relationship with him. There was a significant increase of red in her wardrobe during.”

“I didn’t know. Or at least, I don’t think I did. Maybe, subconsciously- I’ve always loved red, and when I saw that dress, I liked it. I bought it for me. When he said I’d look gorgeous in it, I decided to wear it. But I’m not going to compete with other women, not like that. I can’t stop what people think of me, but I can do everything possible to be able to see myself as I am and want to be.”

“That’s good,” Natasha says. “But is there anything that’s made you think people are viewing you that way? After you sent that message to Secretary Ross, did he say something to you after Banner left?”

“Tell me honestly why you think he’s with me.”

Natasha raises an eyebrow. “Maybe we should wait until after-”

“Now’s as good a time as any.”

Letting out a soft sigh, Natasha moves a strand of hair off Wanda’s forehead. “I think he’s lonely. I think he’s been lonely all his life. I think the closest he got to feeling safe, happy, and believing there might be a day the loneliness would be gone was when he was with her. Now, his friendship with Tony gives him something similar, but it’ll never be as strong as what he had with Dr Ross.”

“And you’re a beautiful young woman who, while there are some unique aspects to your past with him, you’re the most non-complicated option there is. You’re not an intern, you aren’t a civilian who might be overly awed by him being an Avenger, and you can understand what being one means. He does trust you when it comes to protecting this world and its citizens.”

“I don’t think he’s using you for sex,” Natasha continues. “Or more accurately, I don’t think no-strings attached sex is something he’s after when it comes to you. Its fun with someone relatively safe that takes his mind off everything else for a while.”

“And why do you think I’m with him?”

“I think, in a lot of ways, it’s the same for you. And because, you refuse to let me find you someone more suitable. I know several nice men and women around your age with similar interests and life-goals I could easily set you up with.”

Rolling her eyes with a chuckle, Wanda shakes her head. “People my age are boring.”

“I’m sure someone who finds fungi samples genuinely interesting isn’t at all boring to be around,” is Natasha’s dry response.

“The study of fungi played a part in the world having penicillin,” Wanda points out. “Besides, he’s like Clint, whenever we watch a movie, he always has an opinion on everything, and most of the time, they’re very interesting.”

Natasha studies her for a moment before saying, “You haven’t answered my question about Ross.”

“He said some stuff I was prepared to hear. And then- I got the impression he really thinks the fact I have physical similarities to Betty Ross might be part of things. I don’t think this was a manipulation on his part.”

“Whether he was sincere or not, that idea is full of crap,” Natasha says. “I wouldn’t say you particularly look like her, but yes, you do have some superficial physical traits in common. Only you can say if you’ve ever tried capitalising on this.”

“As for Bruce Banner, however, I could have told you before I went to India that something like that would never sway him, and that assessment hasn’t changed. He’s not thinking of her when he’s with you, Wanda. He’s not wishing you were her or trying to pretend you are.”

“You seem confident,” Wanda says. “Normally, I would be, too, but we all know he has a dark side, and we all know he once hated me. I thought I hated him, but then, I found out I was just an angry child who’d turned into a mass murderess with,” she wiggles her fingers, “a simple motion. And he doesn’t hate me anymore, but he’ll never fully put what was done behind him.”

“There’s a reason Fury thought Banner, Steve, and Tony might be able to work well together despite their differences,” Natasha says. “If Banner believes something is right, nothing will stop him from doing it, and if he believes something is wrong, nothing will compel him to do it, even if the whole world is saying he’s wrong. The big difference between him and Tony and Steve is, he’s paid for that more than they have in certain ways, and as a result, he’s always angry, and he’s even less willing than they are to work with others.”

“Look.” Standing up, she pulls Wanda along. “If you’d rather wear the black dress, then, wear it. You look beautiful. But if you bought the red dress for you and want to wear it because, you think you’ll look gorgeous in it, then, there’s still time for you to change.”

Wanda looks at herself in the mirror. “Up for helping me with my makeup?”

“Sure.”

The red dress floats over.

…

When Bruce sits down at the table with Wanda, Clint, and Natasha, Clint asks, “Dr Talbot and her daughter okay?”

“Yeah. Or- Carla, their dog, is sick, and Betty’s afraid she’s not going to be around much longer. But they’re all okay. Thanks for asking.”

Wanda gives him a sympathetic look. “I’ll pray for them.”

“If you need- Oh, we might need to do something about Tony. Pepper’s about to kill him,” Clint says.

Glancing over, he sees Clint is right.

He looks at Natasha. “You get her, I’ll get Tony?”

“On it,” she agrees.

…

After getting an anxious Tony calmed down enough to get engrossed in a debate with Helen, he brings a glass of soft cider over to Pepper.

Sinking down onto her chair with a sigh, Pepper gives him a tired smile. “Thank you, Bruce.”

“No problem. Anything else I can do for you?”

Shaking her head, she slips off her shoes. “I shouldn’t have worn heels.”

“We’ll be around if you need another extraction.”

Massaging her left foot, she glances over at Wanda. “She looks out of her depth. Maybe you should dance with her.”

“She’ll be fine once the others start coming back,” he assures her.

However, seeing how happy Steve and Sam look as they dance together, he decides he should take Pepper’s advice.

Going over to Wanda, he asks, “Where did Agents Barton and Romanov disappear to?”

Her nose wrinkles. “Probably another coat closet or air vent.”

“I swear, aside from Sam, we can’t take any of these people out in public,” he jokes.

Laughing, she nods. “And they call us the most unstable ones.”

“Want to dance?”

Surprise crosses her face, and he wonders if this was a bad idea. “There are reporters and cameras all around.” She gestures to some of them.

“And it’ll damage your cool kid cred if you’re seen dancing with me?”

A mixture of amusement and irritation crosses her face. “It’ll be a story if _you’re_ seen dancing with me.”

“Maybe.” Pulling her chair out, he takes her hand. “But despite my hatred for events like this, tonight’s been pretty good. No threats to the world, America, or us, no people dying, and our unstable teammates are sticking to normal, manageable levels of trouble. The one thing that would make this night great is if I got to dance with a beautiful woman. You in?”

Her eyes are shiny with happiness, and wrapping her hand around his, she pulls herself up.

…

The other guy isn’t happy with how fast his heart is beating, but thankfully, the other guy’s content to merely grumble inside his brain.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Wanda rolls over to press against him, “because, I’m definitely not, but what brought this on, Bruce? I wear red frequently, and you could have a night of dancing whenever you want.”

“Tonight was just a really good night.”

Propping up on her elbow, she traces designs on his chest. “Is there anything that would make it even better?”

“Do you have any classes or training tomorrow?”

She shakes her head.

“Want to get some ice-cream and watch a movie?”

Her eyes sparkle. “Do you have any cherry?”

He sighs dramatically. “Everyone should have known there was something terribly wrong with you when you were a kid. Yeah, but if any of it comes into contact with mine, I’m convincing Thor to take you with him the next time he comes back.”

Getting out of bed, she grabs one of his t-shirts. “Says the one who likes garlic and tea flavours. What do you want to watch? I can’t watch the latest episode of Queenslayer, but anything else is good.”

…

He comes over to the compound to help Tony with a new project when he realises he forgot his glasses at home.

“Traffic’s terrible. Let’s get a thermos for your latte, and we’ll wrap up your pancakes. Unless- we could just put your prescription in one of my sunglasses.”

“Thanks, but I prefer my own frames. But it’d probably be a good idea for me get another pair to leave here.”

They go into the kitchen, and nodding to Wanda and Clint, he heads over to the cabinets.

“Or you could move in here. Your suite is the same as it was in Stark towers. No more having to deal with traffic when you forget something, no more me having to fly across the city when I have an idea at three in the morning and need your help. As a bonus-”

“Tony, I can’t live here.”

“Why not? It used to be because of Wanda, but now that you sometimes literally sleep in the same bed with her-”

Tossing the thermos at Tony, in the corner of his eye, he sees Wanda shifting and Clint looking between all of them with concern.

“We’ll talk later, Tony. For now, why don’t you get the tea, okay?”

Thankfully, Tony decides to listen instead of push.

He hadn’t even really thought of his words before he said them. When Wanda moved in, he was already in France, and the fact he’d never take residence in the suite Tony insisted on building for him was unquestionable. Even when they started having sex, even after the first time he fell asleep with her still in his apartment, he never thought about coming to live in the compound.

…

Bracing himself, he sits down. “We should probably talk about me and Wanda.”

Looking up, Tony sets his screwdriver down. “Was I wrong about how close you’ve gotten?”

“I’m honestly not sure how to answer that. We should talk, but fair warning: I’m, uh, not going to be very good in this conversation. Tony, me and Wanda, it’s mostly sex and her occasionally using my apartment when she wants to get away from everything else. We’re not exclusive.”

Tony nods. “Still, even a year ago, you never would have danced with her.”

“I would have danced with her. If there was a good reason to. And there was no polite way to escape. Okay, point taken. I definitely wouldn’t have asked the way I did and been so happy when she said yes.”

When Tony stops laughing, the discomfort comes back. Shifting, he says, “Look, Tony, the first time we got together, it- I’m not saying either of us did anything bad, but basically, we had an argument, neither of us backed down, and well, the best, healthiest thing would have been for us to both retreat, but we both have issues.”

He’s never liked the trope of, ‘Sex just somehow happened,’ in fiction, but it turns out, there’s more reality to it than he was ever willing to accept in the past.

“And afterwards?”

“It was good enough we wanted to keep doing it.”

“Then, what’s the issue, big guy? You both seem to be in a good place with one another. Even if the sex ends, would it really be too awkward living in the same building as her?”

He isn’t sure how to bring up Betty.

“Oh,” Tony says. “I heard about Dr Ross possibly getting divorced. Are you-”

“No. Okay, look- I know people have a tendency to constantly bring up things, the bad, embarrassing, and weird things, you’ve done, and I’ve wished they wouldn’t, but right now, I’m reminding you: I can and will bring up a plethora of things as proof you have no room to judge or talk.”

Leaning back, Tony mildly comments, “Because, unlike you, I make a habit of making you feel bad for your issues. Off-kilter and occasionally prone to fantasising about first-degree murder, sure, but outright bad about yourself? You know me better than that, Bruce.”

“Betty and I are never getting back together. It’s just- as sorry as I am about Carla, I was relieved when Betty wasn’t at the awards ceremony.”

“Because of Wanda?”

“This goes beyond awkwardness at my ex-fiancée finding out I’m seeing someone. If it were almost anyone else, I know Betty would be genuinely happy for me.”

He really doesn’t know how to verbalise-

Almost all of the Avengers have done bad things, and almost all of them have blood on their hands. Johannesburg gave Betty’s judgement of Wanda an even sharper, more personal edge, but even if it hadn’t happened, she would still disagree with Wanda being an Avenger.

Even before this year, he could and would have defended Wanda’s status as one. He wouldn’t have wanted to, and he only would’ve if absolutely none of the others were around, and it likely would have been a weak defence, but he would have done it.

Wanda and her brother only abandoned Ultron after realising their country would suffer along with the rest of the world. He knows Tony had plans for Ultron before she messed with their minds, but what she did to them was still utterly wrong. Even without Johannesburg and Ultron, a normal, psychologically healthy person having their mind violated in such a way would be horribly traumatising; considering Tony and Clint both already had PTSD, Steve struggles with depressive episodes, and Romanov has to forever live with the fact she was made into a weapon when she was only a small child, what she did set all of them back in numerous ways.

Thor got through what was done far better than any of them, but even he’s become a much quieter, sadder person since.

He’ll never try to downplay what she did. He will argue, however, that there’s worse than Loki and Ultron out in the universe, and Tony’s right: These worse things will come someday. When these things do, every person with advanced abilities, every person who’s been trained to fight, no matter what they did, if they can be trusted even a little, if there are ways to contain them if it turns out they can’t be, they’re going to be needed.

When he first heard that Clint said something similar to Wanda, he was furious, hurt, and betrayed, and if he and Clint ever had a chance at being actual friends, that blew it, but he’s come to realise Clint was right.

Betty, she’s a good, strongly moral person, and to her, no matter what the danger, there has to be a line.

She’s never condemned him for the other guy, but he’d lose all her respect and her friendship if she knew he was willingly sleeping with someone like Wanda. He’d lose access to Bree.

Taking a breath, he lays this out as best he can.

Tony listens, and when he’s done, Tony gives him a sad, sympathetic smile.

“Look, Bruce- I wish I could do something or, at least, give you some good advice.”

“I’m okay right now. But yeah, that’s why I can’t move back in.”

Fidgeting in his seat, Tony takes a breath. “Aside from what you had with Betty, this is the only home you’ve ever had. You know what I mean by that. It could be again. I’m sorry about- Wanda didn’t have anywhere else to go, big guy.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

She’d just lost her brother, her own country didn’t want her anymore, there was no way any of them could quickly and quietly get her American citizenship, and no one wanted an emotionally fragile, potentially unstable teenager with such powerful abilities making her way out in the world. If she wasn’t going to be thrown in one of SHIELD’s specialised holding facilities (and fallen or not, he knew Fury still had some active ones under his control), then, Jarvis was the best choice to monitor her.

Besides, even if this wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t expect any of them, even Tony, to choose him over her. Her powers were stable, and for all her emotions made her a risk, the risk was her deciding to use her powers for bad, not her powers going haywire due to her emotions. Lagos was her making a mistake in her use of them, not her losing control of them. Him, he’ll never fully be able to control when or if the other guy comes out.

With all the bad Earth will someday face from the stars, it’s important to prioritise the best potential assets over the proven weak, unstable, and/or simply unreliable ones.

“You made the right call bringing her here, Tony. I’ve never been upset with you over that.”

“But you did lose your home, again,” Tony quietly says. “And you, Rhodey, and Pepper, you’re part of mine. We’re not going to raise the baby here, and I’m going to try my best to live with them as much as possible. But I want this place to be somewhere my daughter associates with safety. Family. The others, I’d trust her life with them, but you’re the one I want her to think about when she thinks about here. Knowing there’s a good chance this is where her Uncle Bruce will be.”

All he can say is, “I’ll think about it, Tony.”

…

He knocks on Wanda’s door.

“Come in!”

She’s fiddling with her guitar, and when she sees him, her eyes grow wide, she flings her hand, and as the guitar hits the floor, something flies into her closet.

The fact she has one of her chairs prop itself against the closet door is a bit of overkill, in his opinion.

“Sorry, should I-”

“No, no,” picking up the guitar, she comes over. “It’s just- private. Want to sit down?”

“Is your guitar okay?”

“It just needs some polish. I’ve dropped it an embarrassing amount of times.”

They sit down, and she sets it aside.

“We’ve never really had a conversation like this. I’d, uh, like to talk to you about me possibly moving back in here, and I’m going to be honest. Can I trust you to do the same?”

“Yes,” she answers. A frown crosses her face. “Haven’t all of our conversations always been honest?”

“Yeah, but this- the last time we had a serious conversation about something that could affect both of our lives, I didn’t like or trust you, and maybe you didn’t feel quite as strongly towards me, but I definitely wasn’t one of your favourite people.”

She nods. “That’s true.”

He briefly wonders if he should clarify he doesn’t mean when they first started having sex. They’d talked then about what this might mean, but in a lot of ways, it didn’t feel serious. They agreed neither of them wanted the others to know, that they weren’t dating, and that protection would always be employed. It’d been a relatively short, drama-free conversation, and it’d ended on a good note.

“How would you feel if I did?”

“If it’d make you happy, I think you should. I never wanted you to leave. I felt guilty when you did. I understand why you did, and I know- it was another unintended consequence. I thought, maybe, I could tear the Avengers apart from within, but I never thought I’d end up only driving one away.”

“I’m still an Avenger,” he says. “I never stopped.”

She gives him a sad look. “You left for almost three years. The only one you talked to was Tony, and I didn’t snoop, but it was obvious those conversations usually weren’t particularly good. You only came back when Peter was infected with that alien virus.”

“Yeah, well, the truth is, I probably would have eventually ended up doing something like that anyways. If it weren’t you, my own nature likely would have gotten the worst of me, despite Tony’s best attempts.”

She takes a deep breath. “I didn’t know what else I could do. This isn’t an excuse. I’d just like for you to understand: I was scared of myself, and I couldn’t see how I could ever truly make up for what I did. But not only were Steve and Clint and even, to some extent, Natasha truly understanding, but I knew, if I ever did something so horrible again, if I ever tried, the others would stop me.”

“And when Tony offered, they encouraged me to accept. I thought, even if I could never make peace with you, there was a chance I could prove myself to him and the others. Maybe get them to forgive me.”

It strikes him she was an interesting kid. He couldn’t see anything past his hatred, but she truly was a young girl lost. The fact she was scared of herself, the fact she genuinely felt guilty, the fact even now, as a self-confident, grown woman, some part of her will likely always feel a little bit of guilt when it comes to the past and self-doubt when it comes to the future, all this fully hits him.

“So, you’d be okay with me doing this?”

“Yes, of course. It’d be nice having you around more. And I promise, you don’t need to worry about me ever messing with your mind again or replacing your ice-cream with cherry-flavoured.”

“Yeah, if I move in, you can bet I’ll have security on my freezer door. None of them, not even Sam, can be trusted to keep you in line on that front. I know this, because, all of them are the type who’d do such a thing. And probably all have.”

Laughing, she looks at him with warm, beautiful eyes, and he suddenly has the urge to call Helen to see if her offer to join her in her Singapore lab is still good.

He pushes the thought away. Aside from the fact this impulse is irrational, he thinks of Tony’s little girl. He’s going to try his best not to be around her when she’s still a baby and toddler, but maybe, when she’s old enough to understand about the other guy and what to do if he ever comes out near her, maybe, he really can be an uncle-like figure to her the same way he has been to Bree and Tamila.

“I don’t know for sure I’m going to, but I am going to spend a few nights here, see if it might be a good idea.”

“Good,” she says.

…

After he came back to America, he’d agreed to be administrator to a scientific research centre Tony had set up in Queens.

Part of him doesn’t want to admit this, but: Back when Peter and Ned were still kids, they definitely weren’t ready to have any real say in running such a place, but now, Ned has everything under control in ways he never did.

Mostly, though, he is proud of them, and he’s not going to keep clinging to a position that’s ready to be passed onto the younger generations.

He stays at the compound for a few nights, and it’s almost exactly like it was all those years ago in Stark Towers. He doesn’t have trouble sleeping, he doesn’t have any anxiety flare ups, and inside, the other guy is at normal levels of irritable.

Shortly after the Battle of New York, one of Tony’s robots, Graceless, attached itself to him, and he’s mostly convinced Tony’s telling the truth about not having anything to do with this. After Ultron, she was often in the background when he and Tony video-chatted, and when he came back, she somehow (again, Tony denies having anything to do with it) ended up at the research centre.

Now, at the compound, he’s been watching her interact with the other robots, Avengers, and the interns. Aside from her actions towards Wanda (he knows Tony isn’t responsible), she seems to, if it’s actually possible for her, Jarvis, and the other robots experience true emotions, be happy.

Going to Tony’s private lab, he finds Tony covered in sugar with ants crawling all over his nanosuit.

“Holding up so far?”

“So far. Don’t tell PETA, but I think a subsection might be allergic to the alloy. I have Jaime O’Hara working on a coating that should protect them from making direct contact with it.”

He sits down. “Tony, you’re the one who talks to PETA all the time. And unlike the ants, Scott isn’t going to be biting into your suit.”

“A, I wouldn’t put it past him, and I don’t really believe you would, either, and B-” Tony starts gently shaking off the ants into a nearby formicarium. “He has a strong bond with some of them.”

“I’m not going to break the lease on my apartment just yet, but if you could recommend a good moving company, I’ll start moving some of my stuff into here.”

A grin breaks out on Tony’s face, and after the ants are all in the formicarium and his suit’s gone, he comes over.

They hug, and gently squeezing the back of his neck, Tony says, “Welcome home.”

…

Once most of his stuff is moved in, Tony says, “Hey, we’re having karaoke night tonight. Everyone has to sing.”

“And I won’t be attending.”

“You have to. Compound rules.”

“Good luck enforcing that.”

“Hey, captain, come pull rank on the big guy!”

“Tony, that’s not going to work.”

“Alright, let’s try this, then.” Tony waves Steve away, but Steve stays. “Pepper, Rhodey, and Falcon are all coming. Clint and Natasha never come without each other. Even if you and Wanda aren’t dating, you should still support her. She loves to sing. She has a habit of changing the lyrics whenever she feels like it, but she can usually think of the lyric she wants as she’s singing. No hesitation.”

“Yeah, I know she likes to sing. I also know she doesn’t have any anxiety about it.”

He’s not sure what to make of Steve’s expression.

“I’m offering you the chance to see all of the aforementioned people drunk and making fools of themselves.” Before he can respond, Tony’s expression makes it clear he knows. “Pepper excluded. She’s an even better singer than Wanda. Come on, Bruce, one song. We can all catch up.”

“Has Wanda ever heard you sing,” Steve asks.

Surprised, he shakes his head. “No.” He realises she could have seen a time he did when she was in his head, but outside of that, she never has.

“Tony has something of a point. I know you and Wanda probably won’t ever be anything deeper than people who are occasionally together. But wouldn’t it be good if you and her could be actual friends, Bruce? She really is a hell of a singer. Give her a microphone and put her in front of her friends, and she’ll sing her heart out. And all of us, Pepper excluded, are going to be idiots, but I promise you: None of us are going to rib you for your singing.”

Despite the thought giving him anxiety, he knows Steve is right, and besides, it would be nice to hear Wanda sing. He’s heard her a few times when she took a shower by herself, and she does have a powerful voice. From what he’s gathered, she’s a fan of Rhianna.

“Okay, but one song only. I mean it.”

Tony’s phone goes off. “Oh, hey, speaking of our little witch.” He makes a call. “You’re not bailing on karaoke tonight. Jolly Green’s going to be here, and I have witnesses, well, a witness, to him agreeing to do, at least, one song. Okay, good. Yeah, see you later.”

“Did Wanda have plans?”

Both Tony and Steve shake their heads.

“Her plan was to see if she could spend time with you during it,” Tony says. “Just updating her on where exactly you’d be.”

…

Pepper and Rhodey arrive together.

Smiling, Pepper hugs him. “Hey.”

“Hey. You and the baby doing okay?”

Nodding, she guides his hand to her stomach, and the strength of the baby’s kick startles him.

“Thankfully, the morning sickness is going down some, but I’m sitting near the bathroom, and if I suddenly head to it without warning, don’t take it personally.”

Laughing, he promises, “I won’t.”

Coming over with a pregnancy pillow, Tony leads her to the couch nearest the bathroom.

“Bruce,” Rhodey greets.

Shaking his hand, he says, “Hey, Rhodey.”

Sam and Steve come in with Clint and Natasha, and Wanda heads over to them.

He goes to the bar. In college, he briefly worked as a bartender, and since no one objects, he usually takes up the role during Avenger parties and casual gatherings.

Tony comes over. “Pep says you know how to make non-alcoholic white wine.”

Getting the apple juice and white grape juice, he says, “One glass of mock white wine coming up.”

“Thanks, big guy. And I’ll have Safe Sex on the Beach.”

“What kind of songs are usually sung?”

“It depends. Wanda’s been on an unrequited love kick lately. But as for tonight-” Tony gets everyone’s attention. “We’re only doing country songs, and the theme is new beginnings.”

He wonders why Tony’s chosen country. He himself doesn’t have a problem with it; he wouldn’t call himself a fan, but he grew up around it. His aunt, uncle, and especially, his cousin, Jennifer, are big fans of the genre. Likewise, Clint grew up with it, too, and there’s no doubt he’s properly desensitised Natasha to it. He’s not sure how the others might feel about it, but he knows Tony is pretty much exclusively 60s-80s rock.

Everyone else starts coming over to get drinks. He gives Steve, Natasha, and Sam their preferred brands of beers, and Clint requests a Scotch and soda.

“Long Island Iced Tea for me,” Rhodey says.

When Wanda sits down with a grin, he realises he has no idea what sort of drink she might want. He’s only seen her hungover once, and when she finally reached the point of being able to speak in complete sentences, it turned out a classmate had had a party, and she was convinced to play some sort of drinking game with whisky. How much of her rant about how disgusting whisky is was due to her hangover, he’s not sure.

“Do you know what a lemon drop cocktail is?”

“More than that, I know how to make one. That what you want?”

She nods. “Please.”

He starts making it.

“What about you?”

“I’m probably going to have some sake.” He laughs at the face she makes.

“Pepper’s drawing names,” Tony continues.

“That’s fine, but Sam and I are doing a duet before we do any songs separately,” Steve says, and based on the way he and Sam are looking at Natasha, she’s responsible for this.

After everyone is settled with their drinks and popcorn, Pepper draws a name from a cowboy hat. “Rhodey, you’re up first.”

Going up to the karaoke machine, Rhodey says, “I’m going to be doing Stand by Rascal Flatts.”

He glances over to make sure Wanda’s okay. Shortly after he’d came back, a mission with her, Rhodey, Sam, and Natasha went wrong, and Rhodey was paralysed from the neck down. It wasn’t Wanda’s fault, and Rhodey’s never blamed her for it, but it’s obvious she’s always blamed herself.

Giving him a small smile, she nods.

Tony’d called him crying, and when he’d gone in, she’d been a pale ghost constantly hovering in the background with cloudy eyes. Through all the scans, surgeries, and exoskeleton suit fittings, she’d been there, and when a certain petty politician tried to block the treatments from being FDA-approved and made available to the general public, she’d been there with them, Helen, and Rhodey to argue.

_You feel like a candle in a hurricane_  
_Just like a picture with a broken frame_  
_Alone and helpless_  
_Like you've lost your fight_  
_But you'll be alright, you'll be alright_

“Do you know why Tony picked country,” he quietly asks her.

“It’s what calms the baby the most right now.”

_Life's like a novel_  
_With the end ripped out_  
_The edge of a canyon_  
_With only one way down_  
_Take what you're given before it's gone_  
_And start holding on, keep holding on_

He looks over at Sam and Steve. Sam had taken what happened to Rhodey hard, too, but then, he’d had Steve, and Natasha had Clint. Rhodey himself had Tony and Pepper.

 _'Cause when push comes to shove_  
_You taste what you're made of_  
_You might bend 'til you break_  
_'Cause it's all you can take_  
_On your knees you look up_  
_Decide you've had enough_  
_You get mad, you get strong_  
_Wipe your hands, shake it off_  
_Then you stand,_  
_Yeah, then you stand_  
  
_Every time you get up_  
_And get back in the race_  
_One more small piece of you_  
_Starts to fall into place_  
_Oh, yeah, then, you stand, yeah_

Everyone claps as Rhodey takes a bow.

“Next up is Steve and Sam.”

The two go up, and Steve starts:

 _Dancin' in the dark_  
_Middle of the night_  
_Takin' your heart_  
_And holdin' it tight_  
  
_Emotional touch_  
_Touchin' my skin_  
_And askin' you to do_  
_What you've been doin' all over again_

“I hope they get married someday,” Wanda quietly says. “All six of them.”

Amused fondness fills him. “You’re already planning dresses, tuxes, and other outfits, aren’t you?”

She nods, and Sam and Steve both sing:

_Oh, it's a beautiful thing_  
_Don't think I can keep it all in, no_  
_And if you asked me why I changed_  
_All I gotta do is say your sweet name_

When they finish, he smiles at the sweet kiss they share.

“That was beautiful,” Pepper says. “Tony, sweetheart, you’re up next.”

Refusing to leave her side, Tony catches the microphone. “True story: I heard this song the day Pepper and I found out we were having a girl.”

_Well, I've been living like a wild old mustang_  
_Out in Montana fields_  
_Might've earned me a bad reputation_  
_But never stopped these wheels_  
_From going and rolling too far_  
_Running and gunning a little too hard_  
_So unreigned, so untamed, yeah_

He and Pepper link hands.

 _So God made girls like you make guys like me_  
_Wanna reach for the brightest star, set it on a ring_  
_Put it on your hand, grab a piece of land_  
_And raise a few_  
_More girls like you_  
  
_Your soul is pure golden_  
_Must've been true love you were grown in_  
_Sent the sun rays to a dark place_  
_On the same day, yeah, God made_

The tears in Pepper’s eyes and soft smile on her face makes his own heart ache.

 _It's been a while since I stopped and prayed_  
_But Lord have mercy look at her_  
_He sure didn't make no mistake when he put that angel on Earth_  
_Yeah, God made_  
  
_Girls like you make guys like me_  
_Wanna reach for the brightest star, set it on a ring_  
_Put it on your hand, grab a piece of land_  
_And raise a few_  
_Yeah_  
_More girls like you_

Wiping away her tears, Pepper kisses Tony. “Okay,” she sniffles, “well, next is Natasha.”

“Dr Banner,” Natasha looks over, “somehow, a tradition got started of there always being one Taylor Swift song sang, and I’m taking one for the team tonight.” Her husky voice fills the air:

_You were in college working part time waiting tables,_  
_Left a small town, never looked back._  
_I was a flight risk with a fear of fallin'_  
_Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts._

“Did this start before or after you joined?”

“After,” Wanda answers. “It’s all Hope Van Dyne’s fault, but that’s a long story.”

Natasha’s smiling at a starry-eyed Clint as she sings:

_You put your arm around me for the first time._  
_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter._  
_You are the best thing that's ever been mine._  
_Flash forward and we're taking on the world together,_  
_And there's a drawer of my things at your place._  
_You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded,_  
_You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes._

Clint comes up to put his arm around Natasha.

_And I remember that fight,_  
_Two-thirty AM,_  
_As everything was slipping right out of our hands._  
_I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street._  
_Braced myself for the "Goodbye"_  
_'Cause that's all I've ever known._  
_Then you took me by surprise._  
_You said, "I'll never leave you alone."_

Then, Clint takes the microphone to sing:

_I remember how we felt sitting by the water._  
_And every time I look at you, it's like the first time._  
_I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter._  
_She is the best thing that's ever been mine._

He hands it back, and when the song finishes, they walk back together with Clint’s arm slung over her shoulder.

“Bruce, you’re next.”

Sighing, he goes up. “My cousin loves a band called Little Texas, and this song always makes me think of Betty, but I think it also fits tonight’s theme.”

He notices several of them glancing at Wanda, but she simply gives him an attentive look.

_Sure I think about you now and then_  
_But it's been a long, long time_  
_Well I've got a good life now, I moved on_  
_So when you cross my mind_  
_I try not to think about what might have been_  
_Cause that was then and_  
_We have taken different roads_  
_We can't go back again_  
_There's no use giving in_  
_And theres no way to know_  
_What might have been_

As much as it hurts to know he’ll never have children, Bree never would have been if he and Betty had, he probably never would have gotten to know Tamila, and he might not even be Tony’s friend, never mind part of Tony’s little girl’s life.

 _We can sit and talk about this all night long_  
_And wonder why we didn't last_  
_Yes, they might be the best days we will ever know_  
_But we'll have to leave them in the past_  
  
There’s no need to wonder, though. Ross is the cause, but-

He keeps singing.

 _Same old look in your eyes,_  
_It's a beautiful night_  
_I'm so tempted to stay_  
_But too much time has gone by_  
_We should just say goodbye_  
_And turn and walk away_  
  
There’d been a time after the Battle of New York that he and Betty had almost kissed, but she was faithful to Glenn, and he wasn’t going to try to convince her to give up the life she’d built.

All the people in this room, he may not be friends with all of them, but he’s done wonderful things with them, and he knows he can trust them. He and Tony have done so many great things for the world, and he’s hoping, by the time Tony’s daughter is Bree and Tamila’s age, the world will truly be an infinitely better place.

When the clapping ends, Pepper gives him a soft smile before announcing, “Wanda, you’re next.”

Coming up, she squeezes his hand as she takes the microphone. “Is it okay if we do a singer or band that’s already been done?”

“Maybe one Taylor Swift song should be the limit,” Steve suggests.

She gives him a look. “I was thinking of Rascal Flatts.”

Everyone agrees it’s fine.

Taking a breath, she begins, and realising Tony’s right about her changing the lyrics, he pulls them up on his phone.

_I came up out of the rubble_  
_Raised my hands up to the Father_  
_Gave it all to him that day_  
_Felt a new wind kiss my face_  
_Walked away, eyes wide open_  
_Could finally see where I was going_  
_It didn't matter where I'd been_

She skips a verse.

_I got off track, I made mistakes_  
_Backslid my way into that place where souls get lost_  
_Lines get crossed_  
_And the pain won't go away_  
_I hit my knees, now here I stand_  
_There I was, now here I am_  
_Here I am_  
_Changed_  
_I got a lot of "Hey, I'm sorry’s”_  
_The things I've done,_

_I wish that I could take it all back_  
_I just want to tell em' that_  
_Tell 'em that_

_I got off track, I made mistakes_  
_Backslid my way into that place where souls get lost_  
_Lines get crossed_  
_And the pain won't go away_  
_I hit my knees, now here I stand_  
_There I was, now here I am_  
_Here I am_  
_Changed_  
_I'm changed for the better_  
_More smiles, less bitter_  
_I'm even starting to forgive myself_  
  
_I hit my knees, now here I stand_  
_There I was, now here I am_  
_Here I am, here I am, here I am_  
_I'm changed_  
_Yes I am_  
_I'm changed for the better_  
_Thank God I'm changed_

Her eyes went to him a lot during the song, and hoping she doesn’t think he was ignoring her to do something on his phone, he claps when she finishes.

“Oh, I’m up next,” Pepper says. “Wanda, would you please bring the microphone over?”

“Of course.” Bringing it over, she asks, “Would you like another drink or some more popcorn while I’m up?”

“No, thank you.” Curving a hand underneath her belly, she says, “This goes out to my little girl and,” she smiles at Tony, “her father. It’s You’re Gonna Be by Reba McEntire.”

_6lbs and 9oz. lookin' up at me_

_Like I have all the answers_

_I hope I have the ones you need_

_I've never really done this, now I know what scared is_

Moving closer, Tony wraps an arm around her, and putting his hand over hers, he kisses her forehead.

_Sometimes I'll protect you from everything that's wrong_

_Other times I'll let you just find out on your own_  
_But that's when you'll be growin',_  
_And the whole time I'll be knowin’_  
  
_You're gonna fly with every dream you chase_  
_You're gonna cry, but know that's okay_  
_Sometimes life's not fair, but if you hang in there_  
_You're gonna see that sometimes bad is good_  
_We just have to believe things work out like they should_  
_Life has no guarantees, but always loved by me_  
_You're gonna be_

Thankfully, he’s not the only one getting teary-eyed.

_I'm afraid you'll have to suffer through_

_some of my mistakes_  
_Lord knows I'll be trying oh to give you what it takes_  
_What it takes to know the difference_  
_Between getting by and livin'_  
  
_‘Cause anything worth doing is worth doing all the way_  
_Just know you'll have to live with all_  
_the choices that you make_  
_So make sure you're always givin' way_  
_more than you're takin'_

By the time she’s finished, he has to wipe his eyes.

“Was it that bad,” Pepper dryly asks.

Coming over to take the microphone, Clint kisses her forehead and squeezes Tony’s neck.

“Everyone talks about how, years ago, I made a different call, and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I did. I’m thankful every day of my life. But, Tasha, all I did was decide not to kill you. You’re the one who decided to stick around instead of any of the other things you could have done. So, this is dedicated to you, darlin’.”

If he didn’t know any better, he’d find the idea of the blushing, beaming Natasha Romanov looking at her boyfriend with such soft eyes once being an international spy and assassin utterly ridiculous.

_I've been a rolling stone all my life_  
_Flying all alone, flying blind_  
_I've seen it all, I've been around_  
_I've been lost and I've been found but_

_Who I am with you is who I really want to be_

_You're so good for me_

_And when I'm holdin' you, it feels like I've got the world in my hands_  
_Yeah, a better man is who I am with you_

“He’s so good at rescuing people. I’m glad God put her in his path when He did,” Wanda whispers. “She truly did save him, too.”

He nods.

 _I've got a ways to go on this ride_  
_But I got a hand to hold that fits just right_  
_You make me laugh, you make me high,_  
_You make me want to hold on tight, 'cause_  
  
_Who I am with you_  
_Because of you I'm a lucky man_  
_You're the best part of who I am_

After Clint’s done, everyone starts to spread out, and the theme and genre are quickly forgotten. He serves drinks, talks to people as he does, watches as everyone dances, and it’s nice.

Coming over flushed and wide-eyed after dancing several rounds of an Irish jig, Wanda sits down. “I’ve had enough. Make me a café miel, please.”

“No problem. You aren’t going to sing again?”

“Are you?”

He shakes his head. “If it weren’t for Tony, I wouldn’t have tonight.”

“What about a dance?”

Setting the coffee in front of her, he says, “Let’s see how you feel after this.”

“You’re an amazing singer.”

“Uh-huh. You’ve definitely had enough.”

She makes a face. “Once, when I was little, our radio suddenly picked up an American station, and we listened to oldies country for about two hours before it vanished. I didn’t care for most of it, but when I heard Hank Williams sing I Saw the Light, I fell in love.”

He’s never cared for any of the Hank Williams’ music, and in the case of the first, he’s never liked his voice. “It’s a good song,” he offers.

Taking the coffee, she goes over to talk to Pepper and Natasha.

When Natasha begins sing a slow Russian song, he catches Wanda’s eyes, and she nods.

Going over, he takes her hand, and the feeling of her head against his chest and her arms around him makes him feel as if he has been drinking a lot more than the shot of sake he had hours ago.

Everything starts to wind down, and Tony gets everyone’s attention. “It turns out, everyone but Wanda has sung a love song tonight. Want to finish us up with one, kid?”

He notices Steve is about to say something, but Wanda shrugs. “I’ll do 50 Shades of Crazy.”

“That isn’t-” Tony starts to protest.

However, the others come to the agreement it _is_ technically a love song, though, he gets the feeling Steve, Rhodey, and possibly Natasha and Clint aren’t exactly thrilled with her choice, either.

Having never heard the song, he asks, “Who sings it?”

“Chase Rice,” she answers.

He pulls up the lyrics.

_You got a Daytona gold tan_  
_Skin like the soft sand_  
_Boy, you're as cool as the red on a cold can_  
_Little bit of wild child_  
_Coming through that tipsy smile_  
_With your wearing-whatever-the-hell-you-want kinda style_  
_The kinda naughty habit I could get used to_

She sways as she sings, and he fully takes in how well her dress fits her.

_You set a fire up and down my skin as your fingertips go scraping_  
_And I'm as gone as I've ever been_  
_And it ain't weed or whiskey, baby_  
_You put your hands on me_  
_I'll put my hands on you_  
_We'll get outta hand, boy_  
_I'll deal you whatever hand you want me to_  
_I can't quit_  
_Can't kick this kind of craving_  
_Boy, you drive me_  
_50 shades of crazy_

Waving at him, she grins at the way Tony has his head buried in his hands.

_Hint of a lime twist_  
_Your dropping hips give a glimpse of your secret_  
_Starts with just a kiss_  
_Then we take innocent_  
_Put it in the rearview_  
_And haul ass straight for mischief_

_Boy, I lose my mind_  
_A little more every time_  
_I feel you reaching 'cross the line_  
_Then I feel your body unwind_

After a few more verses, she’s finished.

…

Rhodey is the drunkest of them all.

“We’ll make sure he gets inside and in bed safely,” Clint says.

Nodding, Natasha gets him into one of Stark Industries self-driving vans.

“Good.” Tony squeezes Rhodey’s shoulder. “Hey, if you two don’t come back here, have Jarvis tell me when you both get settled somewhere safe, okay?”

They agree, and once the three are buckled in, the van drives off.

“What about you two,” Tony asks Sam and Steve.

“If it’s okay with you, Sam and I’ll stay in my old suite tonight,” Steve answers. “Tamila isn’t coming over ‘til Friday night, and-”

“Say no more. You’re both always welcome.”

After they shake hands and hug and kiss Wanda and Pepper, the two head up.

“Tony and I are going to stay the night, too,” Pepper says. “Bruce, I’m glad you’re back here.” She kisses his cheek.

“Thank you.”

After they go up, he turns to Wanda. Seeing she’s still a little tipsy but isn’t drunk, he asks, “Uh, since, I’m technically moving into a new place, want to help me christen it?”

Her eyes light up. “I’d love to.”

…

Natasha’s doing yoga when Wanda comes into the gym.

“Have you been waiting for me?”

“Yes,” Natasha answers.

Floating another yoga mat over, Wanda sits down. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

“I thought I’d ask how you’re doing with your training on getting out of restraints.”

Looking at her, Wanda sighs. “Did you ever have a problem with how much private information SHIELD kept on so many different people?”

“Thankfully, the new people who are rebuilding SHIELD are better. If you join, you won’t be doing things like that. And if someone starts, you’ll do better than I did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I lashed out when some people expressed concern about me and Clint. You can do worse, but I’m not going to stop worrying about you.”

“That’s part of the problem!” Wanda looks down. “I invaded his mind. I hurt him. Whether I meant for it to happen or not, I caused Johannesburg. And besides Tony, no one is as worried for him. They’re worried about the one who- I know that, if he could have, he might have- He was suicidal. Thank God for the Hulk, because, even without Johannesburg, if it weren’t for him stopping him, I might have driven Bruce to suicide.”

Natasha’s expression is gentle. “But he’s in a better place now?”

“As far as I know, yes.” Wanda takes a breath. “I like handcuffs and scarves during sex. Bondage cuffs are boring. Too easy to accidentally get out of. There’s some other stuff I’d also like, but he wouldn’t. He doesn’t want- Um, I’d never make him do anything he didn’t want in that regard, but he doesn’t care. He cares that I get off, and he cares that I don’t hurt during it.”

“Most of us are closer to you than we are him,” Natasha says. “In some ways, it’s because, he managed to make it without true help and support for so long. I’m not denying that both SHIELD and I should have done things differently. People like him and you used to frighten me more than anything.”

“But you were still so young, and when you lost Pietro, for the first time, you were facing so much all alone. We could do more for you than we could for him. And I don’t know whether he would have a long time ago, but after the Battle of New York, Tony was the only one he’d really let in. You, on the other hand, you let us help you.”

“I just want to make sure that the bad parts of the past aren’t influencing you to do things that could end up really hurting you.”

“I’m not. My parents believed masturbation was a sin. Pietro never did it, at least, not that I knew of. They’d try to make sure I didn’t, but I’d find ways. I don’t know if I didn’t believe it wasn’t a sin or if I just didn’t care. The way I lost my virginity, and no, it wasn’t to Bruce, wasn’t good, but that’s because I picked a- not a bad person, but a bad choice.”

She shrugs. “I didn’t tell anyone, because, I didn’t want anyone making a big deal about it. I was with some other people, and some of them were okay. I started to realise what I wanted, and I fully decided, yes, I have a lot to answer for when I die, but I truly don’t believe that how much sex or what kind I have, so long as I don’t break a promise of fidelity, will be part of that. Then, when Bruce and I happened, it was what I’d been wanting for so long. He’s never pressured me into anything.”

“Are you in love with him?”

Jumping slightly, Wanda gives her a startled look. “What? No. Of course not.”

Natasha’s look is appraising. “If you do start to develop deeper feelings-”

“Then, I’d walk away. He’s forgiven me as much as he can, and he’s moved on from Betty Ross-Talbot as much as he can, but- it’s always going to be her with him. Him having sex with me, right now, she has no claim to him in such a way. But being second best in someone’s heart, or worse, just being someone who gets some pointless crumbs while they’re wanting someone else, I’m not going to ever compete in such a way.”

“It’s beneath me. If he wants to stop having sex, it’ll hurt, but I’ll get over it. If he goes back to her, I’ll make myself be happy for both of them. I know it’ll be God putting together two soulmates. From what I know of her, she’s a good person. She deserves a really good man.”

Natasha squeezes her hand. “If any of that does happen, we’ll be here for you, okay?”

“Thank you.”

…

A week after he moves back in, he’s working in the main lab area with some interns when Wanda comes in with Graceless dogging her footsteps.

“Dr Banner, may I talk to you privately?”

“Yeah, just a sec.” After making sure the new element isn’t going to blow up, he goes over to her.

Speaking almost too quietly for him to hear, she says, “I left my homework in your room.”

“Jarvis, allow Miss Maximoff access to my suite.” Seeing the element has now turned green (it’s definitely **not** supposed to do that), he adds, “Sorry, but if you need help finding it, you’ll need to talk to Jarvis or one of the bots.”

He hurries back over to the table.

…

Later, she knocks on his opened door.

“Come in.”

“Have you already had lunch?”

Looking at his watch, he sees it is near the time most people have lunch, and glancing past her, he also sees many interns are eating. “No. Time got away from me. Did you find your homework this morning?”

“Yes. And I’ll give back your sweater sometime this weekend.”

“My sweater?”

Smiling, she sits down. “We’re going out for my astronomy class tonight, and I’m wearing your Hulk sweater. Blame Clint. I was going to wear the Harvard one, but he made it clear I absolutely couldn’t go anywhere near any community college in an Ivy League sweater.”

“Part of that is Clint’s special brand of dramatics, but it is something of a social faux pas. I’m at a loss here. You have your own sweaters, and if you didn’t, I know you could get some.”

She shrugs. “I like the smell.”

“If you wanted to order some, I have enough Charlie’s Soap to share until-”

“No. Switching detergents would make it harder to get myself to do laundry.”

“You don’t-”

“I hate laundry, but I am going to do it or suffer the consequences.”

He doesn’t bother trying to argue. She could easily have her laundry handled by the bots, the same way most of them, including the ones who don’t even live in the compound do, but instead, she insists on being reminded every week, wherein, she’ll actively put it off until she either forces herself to do it or, as she says, goes through the week scrambling to find any clean clothes she possibly can.

“Are you going to have lunch? One of the interns offered me a bowl of spaghetti, and it looked very good.”

“Go get one if you’re hungry. I’ll have a salad later.”

Her stance makes it clear she’s unimpressed. “You’re plenty healthy. I don’t know why you go through these phases.”

And hopefully, you never will, he thinks.

When he was younger, being rail thin was a curse in so many different ways, and now, the extra-weight he carries- yes, he’s healthy, but when he looks in the mirror-

He worries about Bree and Tony’s future daughter internalising unhealthy ideas about slim always equalling healthy and chubby and fatness automatically indicating unhealthiness, and as such, he’ll always try to not let his insecurities out around them. Tamila probably never will due to her autism, but then, she does seem to have some understanding of the fact black people are sometimes treated unfairly because of the fact they’re black.

After Ultron was defeated, he would have been worried about Wanda if not for the whole despising her to the point of putting several oceans between them thing. She was visibly underweight and showed visible signs of potential anaemia.

Thankfully, Tony had been on top of things, and she’s now perfectly healthy.

More than this, though, she’s beautiful, and he doesn’t know how to make a young, healthy, beautiful person understand his middle-aged insecurities.

“Could you put it behind you for right now? I can feel them watching me, and I think they might be afraid of me poisoning the bowl if I get some myself.”

He’s used to the interns watching his every move, but discreetly glancing out, he sees they are watching both him and her more attentively than normal.

“Yeah, alright.”

…

Natasha and Steve meet in a café near the compound.

“Clint tell you about the sweater?”

Making a small noise, she sips her coffee. “Yes, but he didn’t need to. I asked her if she was in love with him.”

“And?”

“And she didn’t lie.”

Steve studies her. “But that doesn’t mean she told the truth, either.”

She shrugs. “You don’t have to know the truth to say it, but that generally helps. I know I’m biased, but in all honesty, part of me can’t help but think that surely, Bruce Banner, one of the biggest geniuses on the planet, a man who was in a healthy, loving relationship with a woman who utterly adored him, has to see.”

“I can understand that. But I promise you, he doesn’t.” Steve sighs. “Where we such idiots? Or were we like her?”

“It’s best not to dwell on that,” is her dry response. “When Tony gets back from Italy, I’m going to try to get him to see how serious things have gotten. He’s the only one who has a chance at getting through to Banner.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there with you.”

…

Bruce is overseeing the testing of the new element when Jarvis says, “Urgent call from Mr Lang, Dr Banner.”

Scott’s face appears on a nearby screen. “Oh, man, I’m glad you’re there, Bruce. Hank’s got a wounded Strange on the couch, and the portal to the Quantum realm is doing- something.”

“You’re at Pym Industries?”

He hears Pym sarcastically responding in the background, and Scott nods.

“I’ll be there soon. I’m calling Tony.”

…

As soon as they go in, Tony starts, “How did you manage to-”

“I’m muting you, Tony.” He gestures for Graceless to do so. “You okay, Scott?”

“Yeah, thanks for getting here so fast. Uh, so far, the portal’s stable, and Strange is doing a little better. Hank and Janet went to get Ghost and Bill, and Hope’s on her way.”

Covered in deep, angry cuts, Stephen is managing to hold himself up in a sitting position on the couch.

“Hey, doc.” He goes over to kneel down. “It okay if I look you over?”

Floating nearby, Stephen’s cloak bows to him, and he wonders if he should bow back.

Stephen scoffs. “Dr Banner. You’d be my second choice.”

“That a yes?”

“Yes.”

Setting his medikit down, he gets started. “What’s going on?”

“Schmidt resurfaced with a powerful weapon. I’ve destroyed it and trapped him in the Quantum realm, but,” the cloak hands Stephen a blood-covered pebble, “this needs to be returned to the realm in order to fortify the prison and stabilise the realm. If Captain Danvers wasn’t doing something far more urgent right now, I’d contact her.”

“We can take one of the-” Scott starts.

“It needs to be me. Assuming entering doesn’t kill the person instantly, and unfortunately, I can’t guarantee this for anyone but Captain Danvers and I, the pebble will automatically transfer the person to where it needs to be. It won’t do that to any machines carrying people. Moreover, whoever returns the pebble has to physically place it in a certain river. Merely tossing it down from inside won’t work.”

“Doctor to doctor, I would empathetically advise against that. You’re too weak right now, Stephen. I don’t have to understand magic and the inner workings of the Quantum realm to make the determination that there’s a good chance going in right now **could** kill you.”

Tony’s voice speaks up. “So, who’s the most likely to survive?”

Stephen rolls his eyes. “You had to bring him?”

Trying not to laugh, he shrugs.

“Not a mere human. Out of all of the possibilities, I’d lay the best odds on you, Wanda Maximoff, Janet van Dyne, and Lang’s Ghost friend, Ava Starr.”

“No,” Scott says. “Not Ghost and not Janet. Hank thinks we’ve finally gotten her permanently stabilised. Even if it doesn’t kill her, this could undo all that and leave her back to being all phase-y and in terrible pain. It’s taken years of us dosing her with Quantum plasma to get her to this point. And Hank and Hope can’t risk- they already lost Janet once.”

“I’m on my way.”

Jumping, he looks over to see Wanda has joined the party line, and based on the background, she’s flying.

Looking at Tony, he demands, “You called her?”

“This is more important than any test. I’ll be there very soon.”

He remembers her midterm for chemistry is today.

“What about a suit,” Scott asks. “Could the person go in wearing one of the Pym or Stark suits?”

“As long as the pebble is touching their skin, that should work, although, there’s no guarantee any of the suits will hold up for the duration of the trip.”

“Okay, so, the realm’s holding mostly steady for right now. If we can keep it contained until Hank and Stark get here, we can get whoever’s going in suited up.”

“Rhodey and Falcon are on their way,” Tony says.

“Good. I’ll try my best not to damage the suit,” Wanda says. “Bruce, don’t worry, I’m almost there.”

Ending the call, he takes a breath. “Jarvis?”

“Yes, doctor?”

“Initiate Scarlet Witch containment protocol.”

There’s a pause. “Are you sure, Dr Banner?”

“Yes.” Standing, he asks, “Where’s the entrance?”

…

Tony is flying when Jarvis announces, “Sir, Dr Banner just initiated the Scarlet Witch containment program.”

An image of Bruce pops up on Tony’s view screen, and he answers.

“Bruce-”

...

Changing into a silver jumpsuit, Bruce says, “I’m sorry, Tony. I’ll try my best to come back.”

The look of heartbreak on Tony’s face almost- He and Wanda are the best options, and he can’t let her.

“I promise, Tony. I don’t want to do this, but better me than her or any of the others. I promise, okay?”

…

Wanda is within eyesight of Pym Industries when suddenly drones paralyse her with electricity and a large ball of a titanium alloy and vibranium fully encase her inside.

Dazed, she wiggles her fingers.

“I apologise, Miss Maximoff, but Dr Banner activated the Scarlet Witch containment protocol.”

“What? Bruce- no. He- Jarvis, you know I’m not currently a threat to him or the world. Let me out!”

“Unfortunately, I can’t until one of the authorised people-”

“I can get the Quantum realm stabilised.”

“I believe he deemed the risk of you dying in the process too high.”

Taking a shaky breath, she wipes her tears. “If I ask you a question, will you answer me honestly?”

“Yes. I believe I know what you’re going to ask. There are no nearby civilians, Miss Maximoff. However, you won’t be able to shatter or manipulate yourself through the container.”

“We’ll see.” She begins applying her powers. “Either you do something more to stop me, or I’m getting out. He’s not doing this.”

Jarvis doesn’t inform her that Bruce has already stepped into the Quantum realm.

…

Weary-eyed, Natasha tells Tony, “Sam’s on his way to Wanda.”

“Good. Jarvis will end the protocol once he gets there.” He closes his eyes. “This-”

“I know it wasn’t your fault, Tony. We all do. Hey, there’s a good chance he’ll come back, okay? The doc’s a genius, and Hulk is one of the strongest beings on Earth.”

“Thanks, Natasha. I’ll talk to you when I get there.”

…

“Miss Maximoff, the protocol has been deactivated.”

Her eyes return to green, and she lowers her fingers. “What about Bruce?”

The ball opens, and when she starts to fall, Sam catches her. “Hey, I’ve got you. Physically, are you hurt?”

“I’ll be fine. Do you know anything about Bruce?”

“No.” He sighs. “Sorry. Can you fly?”

He carefully lets go with his arms poised to grab her, but though wobbly, she stays in the sky.

“Here,” he wraps a hand around her wrist, “let’s go to Pym Industries, see what’s going on.”

…

Walking into the room containing the entrance to the Quantum realm, as Sam and Scott help Stephen sit down, Wanda walks over to where the cloak is wrapped around Graceless.

Touching it, she kneels down.

Graceless chirps at her.

Wanda pats her. “I know. I’m sorry. I tried, too. He shouldn’t have done this.” Standing back up, she asks, “Do we know where he is in there? Can anyone or anything track him?”

…

Tony comes in, and stopping her pacing, Wanda goes over.

They hug, and kissing her head, he looks over at Steve, Sam, Natasha, and Clint. “What’s going on?”

“The realm’s stable, but the tracer in Dr Banner’s suit isn’t being picked up,” Janet says. “I’m sorry. Hank and Hope have gone with the Fosters to see if Bill has anything in his research that could help.”

Stephen gingerly stands. “My powers are getting stronger. If he’s alive, I should be able to locate him shortly.”

Tony glares at him. “How in the hell did you get us in this situation in the first place? If Red Skull was suddenly a threat again-”

“Tony,” Steve quietly says. “Now isn’t the time. Dr Stange was thrown into an unexpected situation with high stakes, and he managed to hold things steady until he could get more help. Bruce made the choice. I don’t like how he did it, either. But he wasn’t forced, and we’re all really hoping that he’ll be okay. Hulk is strong, but Bruce is made of some pretty tough stuff all on his own.”

“I can go in a shuttle and see if I can find him,” Scott volunteers.

“Or I could just go in. I could wear one of the Iron suits. I can-”

Kissing Natasha’s cheek, Clint stands. “Hey, Wanda, me and you need to talk real quick, okay? I promise, no one is going to do anything just yet.”

…

In the lounge room, Clint hands her a cup of coffee, and sitting down, he sips his own. “Did you know Nat got shot once? Someone started shooting at me, and we didn’t have any snipers nearby. So, uh-” Groaning, he rubs his head.

“Her solution was to put her body between me and the bullets while she twisted me out of the way. You know, I never hated her when she was Black Widow. I didn’t see the good in her until after I was too tired to kill her, but I didn’t have anything deeply personal against her. When she came in with me, I meant it when I defended her.”

“Seeing her, my best friend, the one person I loved as much as Laura and the kids, lying in the hospital bed with the doctors telling me there was a promising chance- I have some idea what you’re going through, Wanda. I really, honestly do.”

Slumping slightly, she takes his hand.

He squeezes it. “Doc and I have never been more than anything but friendly teammates, but I want him to come back as much as you and Tony do.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he quietly says, “The thing is, though, the world hasn’t stopped. As horrible as everything is inside of you right now, you’re still alive.”

“You need to take care of yourself, sweetheart. None of us have to agree with his reasons to try to make sure what he did does matter more than him just doing what Avengers do. He might not come back. I hate saying it, but you need to prepare yourself for that. Let us help. And whatever the case, part of why he did this was so that you’d be safe and live.”

He holds her as she cries.

When she’s done, she cleans her face. “I’ll try to prepare myself, but it’s too soon to give up. He could come back. We could find him and bring him back. And,” she straightens herself, “none of you better ever do what he did. I do take care of myself, but part of being an Avenger means sometimes risking yourself to make sure the world and its civilians are safe. I have the right to make that call for myself. He didn’t have the right to take away my choice like that.”

“No, he didn’t,” Clint agrees. “As for the rest, we’ll all cross that bridge if it comes. Sound good?”

She nods.

…

At the compound, Steve sets a plate of food down where Wanda is sitting with Graceless. “Try to eat some, alright?”

She nods.

Joining Sam, Natasha, Clint, and Tony, he looks over at where Strange is sitting with his eyes closed. “He doing okay?”

Opening his eyes, Stephen announces, “Good news, and we have a problem.”

As the others stand, offering his hand to Wanda, Tony asks, “Is it Bruce?”

“He’s alive. Or the Hulk is, at least. And said Hulk is about to emerge in Central Park.”

“On it, sir. Civilian safety protocols are activated, and Veronica is at the ready.”

…

“So far, there have been no human casualties,” Jarvis says.

They watch Hulk throw a bench at a café, and Wanda redirects it into a tree.

Tony’s helmet covers his face. “I’m going to go try to talk to him.”

“Cap. and I will cover you,” Rhodey says.

“Yeah, and,” Clint gestures to a large tree, “me and Nat will cover you two.”

“I’ll give you a boost,” Wanda says.

Going over, Tony greets, “Uh, hey. Look, Jolly Green, could we talk? Or-”

Storming past the three, Hulk picks up a nearby car, and when it goes flying towards a pond full of ducks, Wanda redirects it.

Cocking his head, Hulk turns, and seeing Wanda, he roars.

Then, he starts to shrink.

“Huh.” Jumping down, Natasha studies Wanda, and the others look between her and the de-transforming Hulk.

“What did I- I didn’t do anything, did I?”

Slowly, she approaches, and sitting with his head bowed, Bruce gingerly looks up. “Wanda? Tony? Did I get the pebble put in the river?”

Taking off his sweater, Wanda carefully eases it over his head and arms.

“Here, I brought pants and underwear,” Tony says.

…

Stephen finishes his examination. “You’re fine, Bruce, and the pebble has been returned. Once I heal a little more, I’ll get reinforcements to go deal with Schmidt.”

Looking over at where Wanda is glaring, he asks, “Will I continue to be fine?”

She storms over. “You had no right to do that. How would you have felt if I activated the Hulk containment protocol?”

He feels like an asshole as soon as the words are out: “Very worried, seeing as how the only way you’d get access is if Tony was compromised.”

“Wanda- I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

“No, that was truthful. There are protocols for dealing with all of us and safeguards. I trusted you. Ross couldn’t even manage to be right about you the one time-”

Coldness goes through him. “You talked to Ross about me?”

Her glare intensifies. “When he visited to talk to you about his daughter and granddaughter, he came into the kitchen when I was making brownies for Sam and Tamila. He said you wouldn’t care if something happened to me on a mission.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t get to feel betrayed right now, and don’t you dare bring up Johannesburg. You were given so much- discretion because of what I did, and that was fine. Everyone, including Tony, thought, no matter how much you hated me, you’d only use it if it was truly necessary or you were genuinely compromised. But you don’t hate me anymore, and you used it.”

All he can do is quietly say, “Yeah. I did.”

He notices Stephen has left.

“Why?”

Looking at her, he knows why, but he doesn’t know how to verbalise it.

Coming over to her, her eyes are still angry and hurt, but she doesn’t tense or move away when he puts a hand on the back of her head. Bringing another up to her cheek and leaning down, he kisses her.

When it breaks, she stares at him with soft, vulnerable eyes.

“I’m still angry. And um, confused. But I’d also really like it if you did that again.”

He does.

…

“Okay, I’ve tweaked the Scarlet Witch containment protocol,” Tony says.

Shifting in his lap, Wanda tugs at his curls. “And he’ll never be able to do something like this again?”

“Short of him picking up massive hacking skills, he’ll only be able to activate if Jarvis believes there could be an imminent threat to him, another person, or the world.” Tony glares at him. “By the way, any time Pep and the baby visits, you’re on permanent diaper duty. And when potty training starts, you get to deal with any accidents that happen here.”

He nods. “Sounds good.”

“I’m hungry,” Wanda says. “And I need to call the college soon to explain things.”

“There’s leftover Chinese in the kitchen,” Tony says.

…

“I’m sorry.”

Finishing a bite, she takes a drink. “If I’m honest, if I could, I’d probably activate the Hulk containment protocol to try to keep you from risking yourself, too. But from now on, when dangerous situations need our attention, you and I are going to try to discuss things like adults and teammates, right?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

“Then, I’ll get over my anger.”

“What about your hurt?”

She’s quiet for a long minute. “If I come to your room tonight, would you sleep in bed with me?”

Puzzled, he asks, “Did I miss something here?”

“You never have before.”

In the beginning, she never stayed around for long after, but afterwards- “Look, Wanda, in the beginning, that might have had something to do with our history, but now- I snore, and I sometimes have digestive issues when I sleep.”

“I know that. I don’t-” She pushes aside her plate. “We both need to be honest, now more than ever.”

She holds his eyes. “If you don’t want more or can’t, just tell me. It’ll hurt and be awkward, but hopefully, someday, we can be real friends. But I do want more. I want to be your girlfriend. Maybe there’d be problems with us literally sleeping together, but I want to try. If either of us finds someone we want to have sex with, we should talk about it, but for right now, I just want it to be us. I- care very deeply for you, Bruce.”

Walk away, goes through his head.

He had the same impulse when it came to Betty, and even with everything that happened, he’s glad he didn’t listen to himself.

Wanda, though, she’s so young, they’re different in so many different ways, and there’s a possibility the past, both of theirs and the one they share together, might cause big issues someday. She should find someone closer to her age, someone who shares her faith, who could marry her and raise a family with her one day.

Except, if he’s honest with himself, the only other Avenger he might take such drastic action in regards to is Tony. If she’s old enough for him to sleep with her without feeling guilty-

“Fair warning,” he wraps his hand around hers, “I might have some trouble. It’s been so long since I’ve been someone’s boyfriend. But if you’re willing to try, I’m in.”

Her smile lights up her whole face, and coming over, she sits in his lap to kiss him.

…

Epilogue

Pepper decides to give birth in the compound, and when Bruce goes to check on her and Tony, Thor quietly asks, “Could I talk to you, Lady Wanda?”

Nodding, she follows him to another room. “Bruce is himself. I haven’t been in his head since Johannesburg.”

“I know. I’m sorry for my earlier reaction. If someone had bothered to contact me with the news to begin with- but still, I apologise.”

Giving him a slight smile, she says, “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re so willing to protect him.”

“I am. Which is why I’m giving you this warning now: I respect you, Lady Wanda, and since you’ve joined the Avengers, I’ve had no quarrels with you. The past is done, and the girl who hurt him is gone. However, if you ever hurt Bruce, you’ll have made an enemy of me. He is like a brother to me. In fact, I often like him much more than I do my actual brother. I can certainly trust him more.”

Her smile grows, and levitating herself up, she kisses his cheek. “I promise I’ll try my best to never hurt him.”

When she goes back down, he kisses her hand. “Good. Shall we go back?”

“Yes.”


End file.
